Vol. XIV
MAY, 1911
No. 7
*5S
IMPROVEMENT
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Portrait of Alfred Lambourne M. M. Young Frontispiece
Springtime on the Wasatch Alfred Lambourne 567
The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper William A. Hyde 569
The Worth of a Boy Arthur Welling 581
Hieroglyphics Near Benjamin, Utah. (Illus-
trated) C.C. Maynard 582
Looking Back. A Poem Ellen Lee Sanders 591
Malerstuen Nephi Anderson 592
The Crown of Individuality.— XVIII William George Jordan 597
Thoughts by a Sea Marsh. A Poem Alfred Lambourne 602
The Loyalty of Brigham Young — An Open Let-
ter to Lieut. Hobson Dr. Seymour B. Young 603
Wild Justice Under Law Hugo B. Anderson 613
A Judge's Temperance Lecture 619
Pen Pictures of the Holy Land.— VII. (Illus-
trated) Hamilton Gardner 621
Joseph Smith, a Prophet of God.— VII George W. Crockzvell 627
From Nauvoo to Salt Lake in the Van of the
Pioneers.— VI Moroni Snow 631
The Vision. A Poem Theodore E. Curtis 635
Editor's Table — Important Conference Themes President Joseph F. Smith.. 636
Field Day 644
Messages from the Missions 644
Priesthood Quorums' Table 650
Mutual Work— Annual Y. M., Y. L. M. I. A, and
Primary Association Conference — Annual
M. I. A. Musical Contest 655
Passing Events \ 656
SPRINGTIME ON THE WASATCH.
"How beauteous upon yonder eastern mountains
will be the Season's prime! What wonders there
will be, what great star-dashes, what circles, what
wavering belts of brilliant flowers! There will be all
the bewildering variety of the Alpine flora. The yet
unmelted snows, in their downward course, will lave
what unseen gardens! Not a glade, not a glen, but
shall know its tens of thousands. Upon those
heights will come forth the flowers of myth and
legend. There will grow strange western bloom,
and there the wild flowers that for endless gener-
ations have been dear to the old-world heart and
brain. Cooled by the crystal rills, warmed by the
generous sun, the mountains will break into floral
joy! Upon those heights will grow flowers the de-
scendants of others that bloomed upon the self-
same spots, century beyond century of the past, and
unseen by human eyes! ihere will be troops of for-
get-me-nots, ivesias, blue-bells, columbines! By
the well-heads of the streams will be the shooting-
star, and millions of butter-cups will carpet the un-
even ground."— From The Inland Sea, by Alfred Lam-
bonme.
/•■\rv>- ycjjvc
ALFRED LAMBOURNE,
Author of Plet — A Christmas Poem; Our Inland Sea
— The Story of a Homestead; and The Cross —
Holly and Easter Lilies.
From a sketch by Mahonri M. Young.
IMPROVEMENT ERA.
Vol. XIV. MAY, 1911. No. 6
The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
BY WILLIAM A. HYDE, PRESIDENT OF THE POCATELLO STAKE OF ZION.
[It is due to the author to say that his paper was in the hands of
the editors prior to the experiments that are now being made in the
Eighteenth ward of Salt Lake City, with individual glasses in the admin-
istration of the sacrament. This method insures the strictest sanitation
and, of course, eliminates all qualms on the part of the sensitive. It
is a good thing to accomplish, and his article tends to show the necessity
of some reform in this direction, but whether or not by the means now
being tried, is a question that will perhaps be solved by the results.
However, the author would doubtless have treated that part of his sub-
ject a little differently had the article not antedated the present experi-
ment.— Editors.]
The atonement is the central truth of the Christian religion;
all other doctrines and ideas begin in this — the great fundamental
idea — the axis of all principles and theories; for, "if Christ is not
risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is vain also."
As the key to all the doctrines, how necessary that it should
be understood and remembered. It ever remained the predominant
thought in the minds of the apostles and disciples of the Savior; it
is the grand, harmonious chord that is to be found in all their
writings and exhortations. "That I may stir you up to remem-
brance" of this truth seems to have been the burden of their
570 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
preaching. And yet, with all their preaching and exhortation, as
time elapsed and the great event became a matter of history and
tradition merely, and not a burning knowledge derived from the
freshness of personal observation, or nearby view, they and their
followers in the ministry must have failed, without some commem-
orative observance, in perpetuating the spirit and full significance
of the atonement.
The sacrament was instituted that we might remember — ''This
do in remembrance of me," is the primary injunction of the
Savior, no doubt based upon the Divine knowledge of the weak-
ness of humanity.
How soon we forget! Our joys are soon effaced by a passing
sorrow; and, happy thought, our tears are soon wiped away by
the experiences of pleasure. It is as if our minds were a sandy
beach, the marks upon which may all be alike obliterated by the rip-
ple of a summer zephyr or the angry storm of winter. The
sacrament is based upon a need of the human soul, and therein
shows the solicitous Fatherhood of God. With it the Merciful One
would seek to tie us to him, that the billows of the storm might
not sweep us into forgetfulness and doubt.
It was essential in the gospel plan that Christ should die for
us, and it is essential for the beneficiary to remember that death,
that its purpose may be sensed, and its optional benefits be received
by us.
Not only those who lived subsequent to it, but those who
lived before the great consummating event of the plan of salva-
tion, were given a charge to think of, and remember it; and, pre-
figured in sacrifice and altar then, and in the Lord's sapper now,
it has stood, and will stand, the predominant fact in all the facts of
the gospel.
The sacrament, like all the institutions of our Father, is essen-
tially simple, and it is that simplicity which gives it that far-
reaching opportunity for good. He chose symbols to represent
his body and blood offered for us, and for this purpose he selected
elements common to the lives of all, — bread, the staff of physical
life, to represent the body; wine, a common beverage among the
Hebrews, and used freely in their feasts and religious observances,
to represent his blood; and these he gave freely to those present
THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 571
with the injunction, "This is my flesh," "This is my blood," "This
do in remembrance of me." In this day he has given us permis-
sion to use water under certain conditions, with these words:
"For behold, I say unto you that it mattereth not what ye
shall eat or what ye shall drink, when ye partake of the sacra-
ment, if it so be that ye so do it with an eye single to my glory,
remembering unto the Father my body, which was laid down for
you, and blood, which was shed for the remission your sins."
The character of the pattern which he set in his last supper
with his disciples, the love and fellowship of the occasion, together
with the simplicity of the emblems chosen, without any other
reason, would be sufficient to establish the intention of the Lord
that the direct benefits of this ordinance should be extended to
all the worthy of his fold. Never has he been exclusive in his
methods and teachings; the only bar recognized by him in any of
his words is the bar of unworthiness, and that was, no doubt, his
plain intention now in the providing of this commemorative ordi-
nance, that all who were worthy might receive of its benefits and
blessings.
It appears to have been so observed among the Saints in the
years following; but it is unfortunate for Christianity that the form
of blessing that he used at the time, and the detailed instructions
that it is reasonable to suppose that he would give on such an
important subject, were not retained and perpetuated. It is
unreasonable to think that the form of an ordinance so grave
should have been left to the forg^tfulness of men to mutilate or
efface; for, in the changes of language, or if left to the memory of
men, who could expect that its essentials could be retained? It
is rather to be believed that it was lost unintentionally, or sup-
pressed by the wickedness of men. But in view of this great loss
to the Christian world in general, how comforting it should be to
the Latter-day Saints to know that the message which the Savior
gave to his Saints on this c mtinent has come to us renewed by
his instructions to us in our day.
Here are the words of the ancient prophet, clear and plain
and easy to be understood. "The manner of their elders and
priests administering the flesh and blood of Christ unto the Church.
And they administered it according to the commandment of Christ;
672 MPROVEMENT ERA.
wherefore we know the manner to be true; and the elder or
priest did minister it.
"And they did kneel down with the Church, and pray to the
Father in the name of Christ, saying," and here follow those
beautiful words by us so well understood.
This impressive ceremony, as given by the Lord himself,
excludes all ideas of mysticism; there is no great, unknowable
thing at the root of this solemn rite. Let us endeavor carefully
to analyze it:
"0 God, the Eternal Father," — an address to the Father of
that Son who died for us — "we ask thee, in the name of thy Son
Jesus Christ," — who has purchased, by the laying down of his
body for us the right to be thus invoked — "to bless and sanctify
this bread" — make holy and pure this emblem for this sacred pur-
pose— -''to the souls of all those who partake of it," — that its
spiritual effect may be received individually in the soul, that the
spirit and the mind and the body, as parts of the soul, shall have
benefit — "that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy
Son,"— here lies the central thought, keeping in mind the Savior
and his atonement — "and witness unto thee, 0 God the Eternal
Father," — here follows the covenant that all make in partaking of
this emblem — "that they are willing to take upon them the name
of thy Son," — to bear that name bravely under all conditions and
circumstances — "and always remember him, and keep his com-
mandments which he has given them," — following logically; for
who, keeping him in mind faithfully, can fail to strive with all
earnestness to do his will; and then comes the promise of the great
gift — "that they may always have his Spirit to be with them.
Amen."
The blessing on the wine differs slightly, for it appears that
there is a meaning in the dual character of the emblems. The
bread is used more particularly to represent the body laid down for
us, the wine or water to represent the spiritual phase of the
redemption, both containing a petition, a covenant, a promise— a
compact betw en gracious Majesty on the one hand, and humble,
appreciative dependence on the other. What great results to
proceed from this agreement, carried out in its spirit and meaning!
THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 573
It seems to me that this is the final essence of the gospel — all
things converge here.
By this act we signify our acceptance of his work in our
behalf — we apply it to our souls, and we become partakers of the
divine gift. Individually we accept his merciful offices as our
advocate before the Father, and to us by the Spirit will come the
strength to live noble and sacrificing lives, and, as a further result,
the gifts and graces of the gospel. In view of the tendency to
forget, and the value of the blessings to be received in partici-
pating in this ordinance, how important the injunction of the
Lord that we should meet together often for this purpose! But
what of those who, having tasted of the heavenly gifts, turn away
to sin and consequent denial of Christ? "They crucify the Son of
God afresh, and put him to an open shame."
Among the crowd that thronged around the cross in
the hour of the Savior's death agony, there were different
opinons as to the significance of the tragedy being enacted before
their eyes. To the Roman it meant the conviction and punishment
of the arch traitor; to the priest it meant the shame and humili-
ation of the arch blasphemer and heretic; to his weeping followers
— if in their sorrow and temporary despair they could see clearly —
it meant the consummation of his glory and Kingship; and, as we
throng around the cross today, by our denial of the purpose of his
death we personally shame him and crucify him again, or by our
acceptance of his offering for us we honor and glorify him, and
receive unto ourselves the full benefits of the redemption.
And 0 the great results that are to come to us in this
participation! At every sacrament meeting of the Saints, we
again accept him; we renew once more in our souls the efficiency
of the great act. We confess him, he is Christ indeed, and there
comes to us the Spirit which seals this testimony upon our hearts
as a living truth, a continual witness of him through the coming
days. Whatever is needed in our lives this will assuredly bring,
for the Spirit of God is the source of all gifts, graces, blessings
and powers.
And since to partake of food together is a token of fellowship,
so here we signify our oneness with the Church, and around this
table we sit as brothers and sisters. And here the erring one,
574 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
who comes with repentance and confession and hunger of soul, if
he has not committ2d the greater sins, may renew his fellowship
with the Church and Christ.
One result, and perhaps one of the greatest, and which is
indeed the bud of the fruit of righteousness to follow, is that we
may feel indeed a love in our hearts for God. What is it to
love a father, a mother, a wife, a husband, a sweetheart? Does
not the heart burn and the pulse quicken? Is not the eye soft and
bright? Does not the object of our affections, for the time, occupy
the stage of the whole being, and all other persons and things
become mere accessories?
If that love be pure and wholesome, is it not the offering of
the soul itself to the loved one, so that if reciprocated, husband
and wife, parent and child, lover and sweetheart are one? Poets
express it better, but that is my idea of love; and all this and more
should we show forth to our Father in heaven. Endeared to us by
numberless mercies, he has placed us also under the bonds of a debt
that we, perhaps, can never have the time and opportunity to repay,
and tears of gratitude may come as an added evidence of the
heart's deep appreciation. Then might it not indeed be that we
would be one with Christ in God, in that most blessed of all
unions, the bond of the Spirit. Should we not say in our hearts,
"Father, help me to know thee, that knowing thee more fully, I
may love thee more truly?"
"But let not any partake unworthily, lest they eat and drink
damnation to their souls."
The Church is warned to have great care and caution, that no
unworthy one shall partake of these emblems. The known evil-
doer may be prevented from participating, but the secret trans-
gressor who disregards the warning must suffer the penalty. "For
this cause many are sickly among you and many sleep." May not
this conclusion of the apostle apply to some of us? Whether to
be applied in a literal or a figurative sense, the penalty is equally
to be dreaded. May it not be that the power that the Saints other-
wise might have, to overcome and resist disease, is withheld
because they have lost the Spirit which giveth faith? But this
other conclusion is inevitable— that the one who sits at this sup-
per is a hypocrite; whose professions, by the very act he performs,
THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 575
are lies; who petitions the Father brazenly, being utterly
unworthy; who covenants to remember, but does not; who looks
upon these holy symbols lightly, "not discerning the Lord's body"
— that such as these shall receive the reverse of the promise, that
little which they may have had shall be taken away, and the soul
shall languish and sleep, in the most to be dreaded of all sick-
nesses. These shall sleep indeed as to the meaning and intent of
God's grace toward them. Then shall they be dead to the beau-
ties of the gospel of the Redeemer.
Would it not be well if we could, without going to extremes,
have a graver, more solemn perception of what the sacrament
means? Not that we should, as some, elevate it into a meaning-
less rite — compelling worship, yet preventing free communion of
the worthy. Not that we should believe that this is his flesh and
blood indeed, only so far as we for the moment consider these
symbols — not as bread and water merely, not as common food, to
be partaken of to assuage the hunger and thirst of the body — but
that they are sanctified and holy representatives of that which
was offered for us; so with solemnity and gravity of soul, though
with joy and happiness, ought we to partake. This ought to be
the dominant thought and motive of the Sabbath. I believe that
it would not be too much to suggest that the minds of all should
be directed toward it at the family worship in the morning. It
seems to me that a few words of prayer will direct and assist the
soul in the contemplation of this paramount duty of the day, and
that the minds of the little ones, especially, may be quickened into
thought by it.
It was an inspired thought that suggested the silent drill in
our Sabbath schools, and I am pleased to see that it is having its
influence upon our sacrament meetings. Next to sacred music,
there is nothing so beautiful as sacred silence; and in the moments
used in the preparation of the emblems, is the opportunity for
each heart to prepare for the solemn consummation of the blessed
act that we soon are to perform. Almost as one who faces the
beyond, should our eyes be turned inward, and in the repentance
that follows — for all may find weaknesses — may there come a per-
sonal prayer for forgiveness and grace, that we may partake
worthily indeed. With this desire for ourselves will attend a
576 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
yearning and love for others; and now, as brethren and sisters
in very deed, — repentant, forgiving, "discerning the Lord's
body," recognizing these emblems for all they mean — may we
enter upon the observance of this holy rite. And it is no
unwarranted presumption that the Lord, by his Spirit, will sit at
the board with us.
As the sacrament is the essence and refinement of principle,
so ought it to be in its administration the essence of refinement
in delicacy of method. There should be a harmonious adaptation
of form to the spirit and meaning. Those officiating should not
mar, by any coarse, inelegant act, the beauty of the ceremony.
Without desiring in the least to imitate the ostentation and show
of some of the Christian churches, it is a matter of regret that we
cannot, like them, show a deeper reverence for the symbols, and
our thought should be — while careful to preserve the right of all
worthy members to look upon this as essentially their spiritual
repast, common and unrestricted — to cultivate and preserve
those means that, as far as simple form and observance may, will
stamp it as sacred.
These thoughts will suggest rules for the care of it, and a
simple system of etiquette, easy to observe by all, yet refined and
pleasing to the participant and observer.
The rule of the Church, foreshadowed in the Book of Mormon
by the words of the Savior, ''Behold, there should be one ordained
among you, and to him will I give power that he shall break bread
and bless it, and give it to the people of my Church, unto all those
who shall believe and be baptized in my name," is carried out in
our day by the appointment of the bishop to hold this authority in
the wards, in the congregations of the Saints. And who could
there be better qualified to assume this responsible position? This
is one of the chief duties of the bishop's office, and his watchful
eye should be ever ready to perceive the least deviation from the
order of the Church in the administration of this ordinance. Here-
in is the foundation for unity of purpose and design in this
observance.
There should be a careful and painstaking attention to details,
to bring the results that are to be desired.
As the careful housewife has pride in the snowy whiteness of
THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 577
her table linen, as much or more ought we to have in our prepara-
tions for the table cf the Lord. No spot nor stain should appear
on the linen; well ironed, and in graceful folds, it should attract
and please the most critical. The deacons, or others whose charge
it is to keep the service, should have thought and love in their
labor, and the silver or glasses should reflect in their shining sur-
face the diligent, careful hand. Water should be the purest
obtainable, and in those country districts, where of necessity the
supply must be obtained from streams, care should be taken that
no foreign substances are present, to offend the sensitive. There
would not, in my opinion, be too much care expended if the water
were filtered, or at least left to settle, and then poured off before
being brought to the table, that it may be reasonably pure. Who,
in our country districts, has not been obliged to drink water that
was offensive to sight and taste, the mind thereby being distracted
from the object of the symbol taken? The bread should be sweet
and white, and while reasonable allowance should be made for
lack of success in baking, it seems to me that good, wholesome
bread could nearly always be obtained. Dark crusts should be
removed, so that the pieces when broken shall be uniform in
color and size.
I may be thought by some to be over particular in this mat-
ter, but you will agree with me, will you not, that there may be a
great deal of difference in the look of your own table as to the
preparation of the food? And when you have company, in particular,
your nicest linens and tableware are brought out, and you spend
a little more time in the slicing of the bread, and in the arrange-
ment of the accessories on the table. And is it not commendable
in you, showing a degree of pride and self-respect that cannot but
assist in bringing the respect of others? Then, if that be true of
your own table, ought it not also to be true of this sacred table?
The ones who officiate at the board should do so with humble
dignity, acting with precision and unity of movement, so that, all
eyes being centered upon them, they may proceed without manifest
embarrassment to perform their duties. Certain rules generally
observed in the passing of the sacrament have come to be law, and
these are based upon the idea of uniformity, perhaps, more than
upon any other inherent reason— such as, for instance, that the
578 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
deacon, or other officer passing the cup, shall carry it in his right
hand, and that the communicant shall receive it in like manner;
and these and other rules, not necessary to mention, are for the
good order of the congregation. In addition to these things, the
Saints owe a duty to each other that they should studiously dis-
charge— that is to be so clean and sweet that their presence at
the Holy Supper shall not offend any.
We should bear in mind this fact: that there are persons who
inherit, or who have acquired by refined living, very sensitive, and
by some perhaps thought to be over-refined, dispositions, which is
no reproach to them, and which we are in duty bound to consider.
There are many persons who cannot, without the exercise of will,
drink after another. It is, in my opinion, one of the strongest
arguments in favor of the word of wisdom, that it is utterly repul-
sive to some that those who are known to be users of tobacco and
liquors shall drink from the cup in advance cf them. If those who
offend in committing sins against others are debarred from the
privilege of the sacrament, will it not follow logically that those
whose very presence and participation, not some past act, offend,
shall some day be forbidden? It seems to me that this may reason-
ably be anticipated, as the Church moves to that higher plane that
we hope to see it occupy. This much, however, I think may be
taken as correct and proper doctrine, without qualification: that no
one who uses tobacco or liquor should be permitted to officiate at
the table.
I would not advocate these ideas to the extent that we should
become over delicate and sensitive. I read once of an ingenious
man who had invented a cup for communion which had a mouth-
piece containing a valve, which admitted one swallow of wine, so
that each one partaking took all the wine that his lips had touched;
and this was advertised as an inducement, I suppose, to the refined
ladies of the church to attend this service, without the fear of
being shocked in their sensitive feelings. I think that this extreme
might be excused in congregations such as one might expect to
see in the world, where the use of tobacco is not thought to be
wrong; but I am happy to say that I see very few in the congrega-
tions of the Saints whom I would hesitate to drink after.
Another matter, rather more delicate, but which I think
THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER, 579
ought to be mentioned, concerns the mothers and the babies. I say,
bless the babies, for they are the sweetest of all creation, and I
love their dewey lips; but, you know, all people do not feel that
way. An infant does not know how to drink, and until it has
learned properly, the cup ought to be withheld from it. As the
water comes to you, do not hold it so that the baby will be tempt-
ed and reach out its hands for it, but drink and pass it on to
your neighbor, if possible unobserved. If the baby is thirsty, give
it a drink from the cup which the deacon has provided for that
purpose. Due care should also be exercised with the children who
have passed the period of babyhood. The careful mother will see
that they have not been eating cake, just before the cup is passed,
so that their lips may be free from particles. As soon as the child
can to any extent understand the nature of the ordinance, it
should know that this water is not to be considered as something
to quench the thirst. At eight years of age, of course, the child
should be baptized, at which period it will be able to comprehend
all that it is required to know of the proper observance of this rite.
With these simple and reasonable rules observed, all ought to
eat and drink readily and with pleasure, their minds upon the
thought that for the occasion this is His flesh and blood symbolized
to us. This idea, I think, should prevail to the extent that no
person, child or adult, would presume to take a cup from the
sacrament table to drink. I hold firmly to the idea of the sacred
character of these emblems and of these vessels. I think more of
their purpose and of what they really represent, than of what
they really are. I do not eat and drink now, as I eat and drink
the food for my body. Instinctively, almost, I think of the ves-
sels of the temples of old. and of the penalty that came to those
who presumed to use them sacreligiously; and however much or
little significance this may have, I am sure that the unforbidden
handling of the vessels by those not authorized cheapens and lowers
the ordinance. I think that bishops should have a pail or pitcher
of water convenient, with a cup that is different from the sacra-
ment goblets, that it may be distinguished and known by the chil-
dren, so that those who need may drink; but if children are
trained properly, they will not be asking for a drink unless they
are ill and feverish.
580 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
I have seen the remainder of the sacrament distributed, at the
close of the meeting on fast day, to hungry children; but this
ought not to be, for the reason that I have mentioned. Neither
ought it to be thrown out upon the ground, or fed to animals.
The remainder of the bread, after the meeting is over, should be
taken care of by one in charge, and taken home and there used,
away from the surroundings that go to make its sacred character.
We love to see the deacons in the performance of this duty
of passing these sacred emblems to the Saints. It is a great priv-
ilege that you enjoy, and one that you should delight in and
honor. You ought to be grave and thoughtful, not light-minded
and frivolous in this duty, and you should be good boys, so that
you will be worthy to officiate.
And you elders and priests who sit in charge of this board,
and who break this bread and pour this water, you should be men
of wisdom and discretion, and have inspiration in your duty, for it
is not a mere mechanical form. You occupy this position on the
call of the bishop, and you represent him here. You should be
able to direct the deacons in the technical points of their duties,
that their work may be harmonious and in order. Under the
direction of the bishop it may, if the occasion demand, be neces-
sary for you to execute the right of the Church to withhold the
sacrament from non-members and those unworthy; this to be done
in all kindness and charity, that none shall feel that they are not
welcome to be with us, even if they are denied this high privilege
of the Church of Christ. You should be men whom the congre-
gation will look upon with confidence, as to your integrity and
good desires, even if you do have some of the minor weaknesses
of the flesh. Upon you, perhaps with more force than upon any
other, falls this sacred injunction, "Be ye clean that bear the ves-
sels of the Lord."
I feel that we should sense these things more deeply than we
do. We should study them and reflect upon them, so that, by a
knowledge of their benefits, we may have spiritual growth.
I believe that if, as a congregation, we sat at this table
entirely and fully worthy — I don't mean perfect, but right in
heart and condition of mind, so that if the Lord were present he
could not say, "There is one here who shall betray me," or one here
THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 581
who is unrepentant, or unforgiving, or one here who is unclean —
that we would be in a position to drink deeper of the spiritual
fountains. Our souls would be quickened by the divine fire, and
the gifts and graces of the gospel would be ours to enjoy.
Pocatello, Idaho.
The Worth of a Boy.
BY ARTHUR WELLING, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE LUND SCHOOL FOR
BOYS.
What a boy is worth the Father knows. But I remember that
when the Good Shepherd lost one of his flock, he left the others
and went in search of it, rejoicing more over its recovery than
over the ninety and nine which went not astray. Not that it
was worth more than they; but that only in the safety of all are
the purposes of a loving father vindicated. And so I think the
answer is that the boy, whether good or wayward, is worth saving,
no matter what the cost — from sin, if possible, in spite of it, if
necessary.
How can you get the full value out of him? I wish I knew!
Were I in possession of the single gift of always inspiring a boy
to his best and noblest effort, I should feel myself the most fa-
vored of men.
Appealing again to the Great Teacher, "Be ye not overcome
by evil, but overcome evil with good." It is easier and better to
form than to reform. Have the wisdom and the patience to keep
in touch with the boy's ever-shifting viewpoint and ideals. You can-
not, and perhaps should not, shield him from all temptation; let the
effort rather be to prepare him to overcome it. Teach him "the
strength of being clean," and that it pays to work hard, play
fair and speak the truth. Give him a square deal, a little
encouragement and something to do: a book that is fit to read, an
ideal that is fit to follow, a game that is fit to play, and a task in
the performance of which he can take pride, and he will respond
with all there is in him.
Murray, Utah.
Hieroglyphics Near Benjamin, Utah.
(Photographs by Leo Hafen, of Hajen and Olsen, Provo, Utah.)
BY C. C. MAYNARD.
The ancient Lake Bonneville, which has been segregated into
Great Salt Lake and Utah Lake, has been a beating, throbbing,
pulsating force in the making
of Utah's topography, more
particularly in the central
section of the state. On its
different shore lines, no
doubt, a great and very an-
cient civilization has flour-
ished and perished from the
face of the earth.
It is believed by some that
the writings and picture draw-
ings found near Utah lake,
and in other parts of Utah,
Idaho, Mexico, and Central
or the earliest evidences of
No. 1.
America, antedate the Pyramids,
civilization on the banks of the Nile and the Euphrates.
At the southern end of Utah lake are to be found excellent
evidences of a community of people who inhabited there, as I
believe, centuries before the discovery of America. Their ances-
tors may have had some relationship with the Orient. It is not my
purpose, however, to hazard any new opinion, nor to speculate on
any theme relating to the origin or history of this ancient race.
No Champollion has been found to interpret these writings, so the
meaning of these curious pictures and drawings is securely locked
in oblivion, to come forth, perhaps, at a later day.
HIEROGLPYHICS NEAR BENJAMIN, UTAH.
583
The rocks on which the ancient writings are found appear to
have been selected with scrupulous care, since they withstand the
"teeth of the atmosphere" better than the more porous, contig-
uous rocks.
The characters represented seem to come under the following
four divisions: pictorial, symbolical, ideographic and phonetic.
By noticing pictures numbered 2, 3, 6, and 11 consecutively, it is
shown briefly what I mean by the different classifications.
The writings of these prehistoric people typify an active,
No. 2.
energetic race, and many of the illustrations doubtless accentuate
several of the characteristics of the animals of the time.
Other engravings show individuals with ornaments in their
ears, a rude crown above their heads, and the semblance of a
sceptre, or a "big stick," being carried in the hand. Dancing,
jumping, striking and the attacking of dreadful antagonists, are
given in detail in some rock features. The writings appear to
have been produced with some pointed instrument, possibly a stone.
The indentations, formed possibly by hammering, as with a gold
beater, are very shallow, not more than one- eighth of an inch
584
IMPROVEMENT ERA.
deep, all being nearly uniform in width. Some of the figures are
two and one- half and three feet in length, although most of them
No. 3.
are very much smaller. It is evident that the activities of these
primitive people found expression in these hieroglyphics; this being
No. 4.
HIEROGLYPHICS NEAR BENJAMIN, UTAH.
585
the case, they were doubtless a warlike race, obtaining their
food by the chase.
There must have been many reasons, unknown to us, why this
race clung so tena-
ciously to their is-
land homes, but it is
obvious to any one
who is familiar with
the geology of this
section of Utah that
the people were a
part of a racial chain,
extending from the
straight of Magel-
lan to the Bering
strait. On the north
of the Salt lake and
in Idaho, near Poca-
tello, are excellent
specimens of rock-
pictures in a splendid
No. 5.
state of preservation. But
this plot of land alone, near
Utah lake, harbors enough of
the weird and strange to
awaken wide speculation. It
is difficult on beholding it to
prevent oneself from depart-
ing into the realms of ro-
mance. It presents a mag-
nificent panorama. The vis-
itor feels keenly its scenic
beauty, while in imagination
he is linked, as it were, to
the past.
The accompanying pictures, taken specially for the Era by
Leo Hafen, of Hafen & Olsen, photographers, Provo, Utah, may
assist the reader to form a clearer idea of the ancient writings:
No. 6.
586
IMPROVEMENT ERA.
No. 1, a fan-like figure with a representation of an animal,
resembling a creature between a human and a bird.
No. 2 is in the most perfect state of preservation. It
appears to show some of the sports engaged in, doubtless looking
to the development of the physical child. In front of the boyish
figure are two mountain goats, at which the youthful Nimrod is
casting a spear or javelin. Near him are two senior companions,
who appear to be giving
instructions. Two angles
of the rock are shown —
the darker side contains
the outlines of a woman
or girl walking rapidly.
One imagines some artistic
taste in the author, for
the drapery appears to be
affected by the wind.
No. 3 appears to be
largely symbols, but like
nearly all of the many other
dozens of engraved rocks
found hereabouts, it con-
tains outlines of human
beings. These rock-writ-
ings doubtless illustrate
meritorious events in the
lives of these ancient peo-
ple who lived and perished
on the upper shore-line of
Lake Bonneville. The reader, however, must fancy whatever may
appear to him as the best solution to these puzzling characters.
No. 4 possesses a similar grouping to number three, yet may
express a different meaning. For one thing, a crown is above the
head, and in the right hand appears a crude emblem that might
be taken as a sceptre.
No. 5 is the only perpendicular rock, and contains several
cracks or fissures. But these have left the engravings untouched,
El - *
i iiViiTliifnMfffiF^ Hi
ft' ■'?{*■& J'M» ' T* '•^'-AH
■■
No. 7.
HIEROGLYPHICS NEAR BENJAMIN, UTAH 587
No. 8.
No. 10.
588
IMPROVEMENT ERA.
which might go to prove that£these writings are of more recent
date than the others.
No. 6 appears to be a conglomeration of scratches, but care-
ful observation reveals many features extremely interesting. Near
the center is a figure about three feet long, which conforms rudely
with a human body, except the head, which appears to
resemble a grainer's comb. Diagonally across the body is the
rude design of a sword or wand, which may indicate a religious
insignia, or some political authority. At the left are some of the
No. 9.
best instances of ideographs, expressing one knows not what,
though one figure suggests an hour glass.
No. 7. The extended hand, more than life-size, suggests a
benediction that may have been pronounced upon the heads of his
defenders by the great Sachem. The engraving is imperfect, as
it represents five fingers and a rudimentary thumb.
No. 8 is left for the reader's own interpretation.
No. 9. From this view, some idea may be obtained of the
scattered condition of these fragmentary, volcanic rocks, bearing
the inscriptions from which the photographs were taken. At the
HIEROGLYPHICS NEAR BENJAMIN, UTAH.
589
east and north is Utah lake, and looking in that direction lies the
Wasatch range, with Mt. Timpanogas to the left, with a mantle of
snow on its upper half, partially hidden by cumulous clouds. This
mountain has become immortalized by the brush of the artist, John
Hafen, of Springville, once the home also of the noted sculp-
tor, Dallin. This mountain,
as well as Mt. Nebo and
others, is pointed out to
tourists enroute for Denver.
Provo lies at its base, a dis-
tance of twenty miles. From
this spot may be seen thir-
teen towns and cities, form-
ing a crescent of settlements
so interesting and beautiful
that it cannot be fully appre-
ciated until one has had a
real view for himself. It is
impossible to stand on such a
place and not feel that it is one
of the most inspirational spots
to be found from ocean to
ocean. Below the upper ter-
races of the old lake are two other shore lines, each of which it may
have taken many centuries to produce. When the lake reached
the upper shore line, the chain of mountains locally known as
West mountains, was broken up into marine islands; and upon
these, inhabitants were conveniently located for obtaining food,
making their ingress and egress over the West mountain crests,
thus gaining the main land to the south, near the location of
Santaquin. The mountains to the northeast, shown in the pic-
ture, are over eleven thousand feet above sea level, while the lake
is nearly five thousand.
No. 10 consists of symbols which, no doubt, involved con-
siderable time and patience to produce.
No. 11 has characters with some resemblance to Egyptian
writings, found 'on obelisks and marble columns along the Nile
valley.
No 11
590
IMPROVEMENT ERA.
No. 12 seems to portray some individuals in high glee; per-
chance they are indulging in revelries celebrating some import-
ant victory over their enemies.
The writings found upon these rocks resemble very closely
those of the cliff dwellers, to be seen in different parts of Utah
and Colorado.
The i ace who wrote upon these rocks may have been the pro-
genitors of the cliff dwellers. The Indian tribes now living are
ignorant of the significance of these hieroglyphics, and can give no
reason for their existence. The writers may have been contempo-
raneous with the mound builders, or with the civilization that built
the buried city of Copan, in Yucatan.
Should any visitor become interested in these strange records
of an ancient people, any school boy in the village will be glad to
direct him to where they may be seen. All strangers will be
kindly treated by the villagers, and helped in their efforts to make
®fc
Mfe
*& '&*"
J*K • *
No. 12.
HIEROGLYPHICS NEAR BENJAMIN, UTAH. 591
themselves fully acquainted with every phase of scenic beauty to
be found in the vicinity of Benjamin, Utah county, Utah. I believe
the location is worth preserving, and that the Utah Representa-
tive in Congress should have it placed under reservation for the
benefit of posterity.
Matthews, Indiana.
Looking Back.
(For the Improvement Era.)
I walked adown the village street, so dear to youth's light heart-
It nestles where the Wasatch hills in wide curves fall apart.
I saw the sun, a golden ball, in splendor set again,
Where that low line of barren hills cut off the Black Rock plain.
As when a child I watched the clouds in soft, voluptuous fold,
Their misty curtains slowly draw, of amber, rose and gold.
Eastward, a snow-crowned kingly king, Mount Belnap's peaks are seen,
His foot-hills rising row on row, with lines of darkening green.
Lake Proffer in the monarch's arms, like heart of woman won,
Surrounded by a thousand charms, lies hidden from the sun.
I sought the spring by Jackson's place, across the Beaver bridge
That spans that clear and tranquil stream, so near the southern ridge.
And where we two had strolled, I passed, forgotten and alene;
And by the spring beyond the bridge, paused by the arch of stone
Where we two sat and watched the flow and softly bubbling sand—
We knew not over life and hope, fate held relentless hand.
And as night's shadows closed about, by longing sadness led,
I sought thy lonely grave, and stood where you rest with the dead.
Alas! how fleeting human lives! Down fell the bitter tears,
And memory clasped our hands again, across the gulf of years.
But morning light dispels the gloom, warm love hath dried my tears;
Unbounded faith in God has laid the ghost of other years.
Ellen Lee Sanders.
Provo, U.ah
Malerstuen.
BY NEPHI ANDERSON, AUTHOR OF "ADDED UPON," "THE CASTLE
BUILDER," "DAUGHTER OF THE NORTH," ETC.
I.
Have you ever speculated on why you made your entrance
into this world at the particular time and place that you did? Why
did you come now instead of in the time of Constantine, or Paul,
or David, or Methuselah? And why did you make your entrance at
London or at Salt Lake City, rather than at Cape Town, or Sidney, or
Rio de Janeiro? And then consider, a little more in detail, the
environment into which you came. Why were you born in a farm-
house instead of a city mansion, for instance? Why were your
parents poor instead of rich, or the opposite?
I shall not attempt to answer these questions for you in any
degree of defiiiteness, but I do think that this coming to earth is
the result of a chain of sequential events, reaching away back into
past worlds. There is no chance in nature. He who "hath made
of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the
earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the
MALERSTUEN. 593
bounds of their habitations" — He surely sees that the coming of
his children to this earth is done according to law and order.
Our arrival here is usually heralded with joy and rejoicing.
When our Elder Brother made his advent as a babe in Bethlehem,
he was announced by a star, and a multitude of angels sang praise
to God in celebration of the event; and thus we also receive the
quieter welcome of glad parents and pleased brothers and sisters.
But what of our departure from that pre-existent home? Was
there the sorrow "up there" at parting as there is down here? or
did we have more knowledge then, seeing more of the end from the
beginning? We read that at one time, when this earth was being
prepared for us, "the morning stars sang together, and all the
sons of God shouted for joy;" and this seems to infer that the
veil which hung before our eyes was not so impenetrable as that
which now separates us from the life beyond the grave. I can
well imagine that when the Firstborn came to part from his
Parents and kindred to perform his earthly mission, a chorus of the
heavenly host sang a parting hymn, and the occasion was made a
time of solemn rejoicing. We also were in that first estate. We
also had parents and friends grown dear to us by time-immeasured
association. Though infinitely less than our Elder Brother, who
became our Lord and Savior, might not we also have been sent
forth with some demonstration of Godspeed and farewells until we
should meet again?
II.
I thought of these things — and a great many more — as I sat
on the ruins of a stone wall, that warm July afternoon, and looked
at Malerstuen. I had left President Heber J. Grant and party at
Stockholm the day before — July 4, 1906 — and had hastened on in
advance to Norway and to Christiania, that I might have more
time to visit my native country and city, and Malerstuen, the
house where I was born. I had hurried from the city out to Ves-
tre Aker on the electric cars, and from the end of the line, I had
walked some distance out into the country. Not having been quite
sure of my way, I had asked a farmer, who was cutting grass by
the roadside, if he could direct me to Malerstuen.
"Yes;" he had said without hesitation, "go down this way
IMPROVEMENT ERA. • 594
for fifteen or twenty minutes, and you'll see it on the left side of
the road."
Malerstuen had been built for over fifty years, and I was
gratified to learn that it was still known by its original name.
I found the house readily. It stood on a rising knoll, a few
rods back from the road. It was a small, plain, wooden structure.
The tiles on the roof and the boarding on the sides were nearly
the same color of rusty red, the corners, cornice and porch being
painted white. The rock foundation was still intact and solid. A
stone wall had extended along in front of the house, but now only
a remnant was to be seen. Our neighbors of forty years ago used
to say — so I have been told — that the devils sat thick on this wall
while the ''Mormons" held services within the house. Perhaps
this accounted for the decay of the wall and the preservation of
the dwelling. On one side of the house stood some tall lilac
bushes, and out beyond them in the distance, could be seen
patches of gleaming water. Christiania fjord lies in that direc-
tion, and down in the lowest parts of the depression between the
rounded green hills shone the water of the fjord. Fields sur-
rounded the house on every side, and out away from the city they
stretched to the hills. These gradually rose, pine-clad to the sum-
mits, where, in the openings among the trees, stood the rustic
hotels overlooking the fjord, the cities, the villas, the farm houses
and Malerstuen.
So this is the spot on which I first stepped when I came to
this world! And could there be a more beautiful place upon which
to alight? True, I came in the winter, when all this beauty of
field and hill and fjord lay under a cover of snow; but by the time I
was old enough to observe, many snows had come and gone, and
many a time the land had been decked with grass and flowers, and
the long Norwegian days had distilled their beauty into my soul.
The winter evenings may have been long and cold, but all that
comes to me of them are faint remembrances of wonderful Nor-
wegian fairy tales told to the children by my father.
Here my infant feet had trod. This earth they had first
pressed. Here I had played while the wonders and beauty of my
new home had unfolded to me. I had experienced some fears of
the disillusion that a return to one's native place often brings,
MALERSTUEN. 595
but I was happily disappointed. I wanted to lie on the green
grass and look up into the blue sky, and dream away the day. I
sat down on the steps of the porch in a reverent mood, and my
soul was flooded with a divine peace. The sky was fair; the air
was cool and sweet; a bird chirped from the lilac bushes: I was
in love with Malerstuen. The years turned back to the time when
heaven lay about me in my infancy; for, as Wordsworth says:
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And coraeth from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home.
And a reflection of that glory was about me, and the man per-
ceived that it had not altogether died away, nor faded "into light
of common day."
I went into the house, and was kindly received by the old lady
who lived there. She became interested in me, not so much, I
fancy, because I had been born in the house, but because I was
from America. She had a son in that goodly land who had not
forgotten his mother. I saw the big room where the early Saints
used to meet for service, and noticed the big joists across the ceil-
ing. With my kodak I took some views, and when the old lady
learned that she was in the picture, she exclaimed:
"Good! Now I, also, shall go to America."
III.
Many of the Saints who joined the Church in early days in
Christiania will remember Malerstuen. Its first owner was one
Andreas Rasmussen, a painter. The word "painter" in Norwegian
is maler, and the house or cottage due; therefore, Malerstuen
means the house of the painter. My father, Christian Anderson,
while yet a young man, learned his trade from Painter Rasmussen,
who joined the Church and came to Utah. My father was baptized
in 1857, and, with his young wife, moved into Malerstuen. Thus
the name of the humble cottage was perpetuated.
W6 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
Maler Anderson was soon appointed president of the Aker's
branch of the Church, and meetings were held in his home. This
created much stir in the neighborhood, and priests of the state
church, and officers of the law, made not a little trouble for the
Saints. But the work went on, and many honest souls heard the
restored gospel for the first time within the painter's cottage.
Among the clearest of my childhood recollections, is that of my
father's deep, rich voice when he became eloquent in his preaching.
In the fall of 1860 he was called on a mission. Leaving his
wife and babies, he started northward without purse or scrip, into
the snow-bound mountains of Norway. On this trip he reached
Trondhjem on the north coast. He walked most of the way, a dis-
tance of nearly three hundred miles, ani then trudged the long
way back again. Two years later he was again sent on a mission
to the upper valleys of his native country. This time he spent
eight days in prison for preaching and performing some of the
ordinances of the gospel. He was not very rich in worldly goods
in those days, and he could leave his family very little save his
blessing. The winters were long and severe. Though the walls
of Malerstuen popped with cold, and the fare of its inmates was
meager at times, yet there abode with them the peace which comes
from a sense of duty well done. The years, with their suns and
their snows have gone since then, but Malerstuen still stands, rich
in the memory of events, which, I hope, have added a grain of
good to the world.
Tranquility.
What breaks the shaft of a great ocean liner is not the work it
does in driving the ship forward through the sea, but the tremendous
speed at which it is driven when the waves lift the stern into the air and
it is doing no work whatever. It is so with the most perfect of all
machines— the human body. It is not work that wears us out, or sud-
denly snaps the cord, but rather it is the extra strain we put upon the
machine by the waves of passion and folly that sweep over us. We have
noticed that those who live long and happily are those who have lived
tranquilly, and circumscribed their desires within due bounds. — Farm
Journal.
The Crown of Individuality.*
BY WILLIAM GEORGE JORDAN.
XVII. — The Dark Valley of Prosperity.
The great test of individual character is not struggle but
attainment; not failure but success; not adversity but prosperity.
When nature wants to put a man through the third degree, she
places near him his laurel wreaths of victory; she megaphones to
him the world's plaudits of success; she parades stacks of newspaper
clippings and magazine articles with his portraits; she clinks his
money-bags in his ears, and she tells him confidentially of the
world-changing power of his influence. She smiles on him kindly
and murmurs, "Poor fellow, is he able to stand it?" Then she
sends him for his test through — the dark valley of prosperity.
Few pass through it immune; few acquire no perversion of
mind; few escape fractures of ideals or new dents in character.
But when one, through it all, remains just as good and simple and
loveable as when he began the trip, remains kindly, sincere,
strong, sympathetic and unspoiled, Nature is glad indeed to admit
she has found — a real man, a big man, a great man.
. It is called the dark valley of prosperity, because it so often
dims the vision to the finer realities of life. In the early stages,
in the dimness, they cannot see their old friends as they pass.
There comes a peculiarity of the extensor muscle which prevents
them extending the hand to some one no longer necessary to them.
They acquire a form of memory impairment which prevents them
* From The Crown of Individuality. Copyright, 1909, by Fleming
H. Revell Company.
598 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
remembering past favors and debts of gratitude due to those who
stood beside them in their hours of need. They do not notice their
sudden and increasing chest expansion. They find that their hats
are continuously growing too small for them in a singular manner.
In the dark valley, their dearest hopes and their high ideals
often slip away — into the silence. For them are substituted avar.
ice and ambition, dressed in a livery of gold, and the individual
may near-sightedly mistake them for higher good. In the shad-
ows, conscience, the eye of the soul, becomes, too often, dulled so
that it cannot see the distinctions between genuine honor and a
dishonor their lawyers inform them is technically legal. They fail,
often, in their morally fading vision, to see the difference between
right and wrong, between justice and the injustice of misused
power. These are but samples of dangers thdt menace all, but
which some overcome.
Sometimes they grope along the way, unconscious of the
great price that they are paying. Suddenly they may realize,
under a burst of temporary sunlight in the valley, that they have
somehow, somewhere lost love, sympathy, trust, confidence,
sweetness of nature or something else that has been — dearest in
the world to them. It has dropped away in the darkness like a
locket from an unguarded chain, and they may — never find it
again.
It is sheer cant that would throw wealth, fame, prosperity
and success into a moral dust-heap as vanities of the world. We
all want them. Those who take a high moral pose against them
are either envious or are elbowing their way to get front Pharisee
seats in the temple of virtue. These things are not evil in them-
selves. They are great powers for good, but they are not — life's
greatest. They are less than the real joys, like love, that — no
money can buy. Their wrong is when acquired by a sacrifice of
truth, honor, justice or the real virtues of life, or when they are
misused or consecrated to the selfish side of living. Their danger
is in the corrupting effect the individual can hardly ever keep
them from having on him.
Poverty, struggle, failure and adversity are not in themselves
passports to saintship — though they have given moral strength
and sweetness to thousands. They have their own hard, bitter
THE CROWN OF INDIVIDUALITY. 599
temptations to meet face to face. Theirs is far from an easy
fight — the daily hand to hand battle with fate. But their tempta-
tions are usually direct, bold, clearly defined and their joys require
so little. The tempting tests of prosperity come in subtle phases,
gilded, perfumed, masking in deceptive guise.
Poverty knows the word "stealing;" wealth may think it
"financeering." Poverty knows "envy of another's possessions;"
wealth may assume taking a manufacturing plant as "a good busi-
ness deal," It may then even, by some strange sophistry, justify
itself by declaring they will do better for the people. Poverty
knows hunger for bread; wealth may hunger for the money of the
bread-earner. Poverty usually sees evil in its aggressive, hardest
phases. Prosperity may find it hidden and unsuspected, like Cleo-
patra's asp in a boquet of flowers. "For one who can stand pros-
perity," says Carlyle, "one hundred can stand adversity."
A very slight drop of the acid of prosperity will begin the
revelation of character of the man — be he not big enough to be
simple. The slightest elevation in position, the least new good
fortune, some temporary elation, may reveal it. Have you ever
noticed the man who has made a bit of a success in the city, and
returns for a week to his native village? He says he has come
back to see the folks but it is really to have the folks see him.
He enjoys the envy he excites in those who have not, like him —
lived in the city. He wants to get sunburned in the warmth and
fervor of their admiration. He stretches at length in his tilted
chair, locks his thumbs behind the armholes of his waistcoat
and plays a flute solo of vanity on his breast-bone, using the but-
tons as stops manipulated by his fingers.
He occupies the centre of the stage every minute with his
monologue. There is a touch of swagger in his walk, an irritat-
ing undertone of tolerance and patronage in his speech, and that
loud voice we involuntarily use with the deaf. He is his own Bos-
well and his own Gabriel. It is, perhaps, only a harmless brand
of vanity, but it shows he is getting near to the entrance of — the
dark valley. When a big, simple man of real fame comes back,
the story of what he has done — usually leaks out incidentally; it is
not exploded like a bomb.
The author of a successful book may have won his honors
600 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
because he wrote with serious purpose. His message was supreme
— fee for delivery, secondary. But he may be attacked by the
vertigo of money-making and forget everything else. Inspired by
his publisher, he may galvanize an old earlier book of his youth,
and rush through a hasty new one to have it in print before the
wave of his sudden fame has died on the shores of forgetfulness.
He talks less now of art and more of mart. The new book may
fail because he fell into the pitfall of commercialism in — the dark
valley of prosperity.
Successful artists and illustrators, in many instances do not
follow up the first successes that won them fame. They slur over
their work; they stand still or they degenerate. They accentuate
the superficial in their style and care little for the strength that
once was vital. They repeat the same characters, merely in
slightly changed positions, like a cheap stock-company with a
small cast and a meagre ward robe — playing in repertoire. These
men often say, if one ventures to speak that kindly word of pro-
test we should always give to the needy: "Oh, what difference
does it make — it pays all right." They should find some good
Samaritan to drag them from the dark valley of prosperity and
put them back again in the sunlight of struggle and the inspiration
of adversity.
The business man who began in a small way and suddenly
finds fortune emptying cornucopias of gold into his lap may find it
hard to keep his feet and not to lose his head. The demon of
greed may transform him — he wants more. He is like the farmer
who desired only the land that adjoined his farm — each addition
increased the field of desire; the more he had, the more he wanted.
Then may come a million owning a man, not the man a million. To
accumulate more, he may defy laws, bribe legislatures and buy
judges. Like a modern Joshua, he seeks to command — the sun of
justice to stand still. He chloroforms his business conscience
until it sleeps so soundly that an earthquake would not jostle it.
Wealth often makes men who started in bravely with high
ideals and normal health, become cold, heartless, selfish and
uncharitable as they walk through the dark valley of prosperity.
They often become arrogant and have a tendency to expect argu-
ment to close when they speak. They seem to have a corner on
THE CROWN OF INDIVIDUALITY. 601
judgment, as if their eye alone saw the sun of truth, their wisdom
alone plumbed the depths of great questions. The abnormal pres-
sure of business often forces them into pleasures of which they
count not the cost nor the character. They are often too busy to
take stock of the goods of their souls. The culture of the higher
affections and sentiments is often killed. The very intensity of
their work or their play produces a yawning, yearning ennui hard
to overcome.
Trifles affect them strangely; they grow irritated, impatient,
irrational at finding even a crumpled rose-leaf in the golden couch
of their insomnia. They become more and more suspicious, and
hardly know whom to trust. They fear every one is paving the
way for some deal, stealthily seeking to gain their influence or to
subtract something from the useless pile of their surplus wealth.
They can have but few trusted, genuine friends of the mind, heart
and soul. Great wealth, like genius, isolates man from his fel-
lows in the — closest harmonies of life.
Let us live so gladly and glowingly in the sunlight of real
simple love, that means our great all; with faith in those few
around us that girdle our whole world, realizing the sweetness of
honest, true friendships that so inspire; happy in the noble round
of loyalty, consecrating today's duties to usher in a finer
tomorrow; so living in the joy of our simple life on the purer lines
of unselfishness, realness that — we shall be glad the trials, tests
and temptations of the dark valley have actually snubbed us as too
unimportant to notice.
If called upon to the burdens of the greater responsibility let
us bear them bravely at our best, and let nothing rob us of sim-
plicity, sweetness, strength, sympathy and all that is sterling. The
greatest men and women are ever the simplest. There are thou-
sands who bear their great burdens of fame, success, power and
prosperity, or wealth, and who remain happy as of old and little, if
any, spoiled by it all. They must truly be rare characters, of fine
resources of thought, heart, nature and soul, who can retain the
crown of their individuality after a journey through — the dark
valley of prosperity.
(the end.)
Siterthts sbreadoj water nearthe coast,
rrmre Mid and rank 'The sodden rushes orotf,
x JBlacii are the rvf/ecls //? t/te boot below;
5 f\nd still } the heron keehs Ji is lonely Post.
Or drJjw across the rushes /me a a host.
Jill rran and chili me vfyoors cralher sIoiaT,
Whi le Jacn- o - 7antezn haters to and fto}
/Is thru the mo'ht loud croexk the sl/mif host .
Xjt not muheatt he as thh stagnant n?arsl?
Jo ere ne rate aja.lse/ MJScruidina jlamej
MeT me not dulse ojf dull jn action ~be ;
Uorjmd l/'j-es watehs acr/icrrown and harsh;
'Be mine /ns~tea.d of nxis craiescent \sname,
Tne -flash and mo twiner of a. boundless
The Loyalty of Brigham Young.
An Open Letter to Lieut. Hobson,
Whose gallant service in the sinking of the liMerrimacn largely
contributed to the victory of the American Navy.
BY DR. SEYMOUR B. YOUNG, OF THE FIRST COUNCIL OF SEVENTY.
The statement of some thoughtless person, published in a
prominent periodical, was called to my attention recently in
regard to the loyalty of President Brigham Young, of the
''Mormon" Church, to our government. The rabid statement, as
1 now recall it, was from a lady by the name of Owen:
Brigham Young was always a traitor to the general government,
and lived and died a traitor.
When this language, Lieut. Hobson, was brought to your
attention, I am informed you made this reply:
If it can be satisfactorily proven that Brigham Young was a traitor
to our government, I, too, would object to having his monument and
statue engraved on any piece of silver service belonging to the battle-
ship Utah.
I was pleased to read this statement, for in it I thought I could
recognize the sentiment that if it could be shown that Brigham Young
was loyal to our country, you would be equally willing to defend
Utah's rights, and have his monument or statue engraved on the silver
service of the battleship Utah.
Brigham Young, pioneer of the great West, prepared a high-
way which led to the settlement and building of a mighty western
empire, for, Salt Lake City, of his founding, soon became the
604 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
Mecca of western emigrants, seeking not only the precious metals
of the hills and mountains, but homes to locate upon the virgin
soil, not only in Utah, but on territory in the states of Idaho,
Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico and California; proving,
indeed, that he was the founder of a great empire.
My memory goes back to 1846, whenBrigham Young with his
followers, numbering some fifteen thousand souls, left their
beautiful city of Nauvoo, because of persecution from their
neighbors in Illinois and Missouri, crossed the Mississippi river,
and wended their way westward over the then uninhabited terri-
tory of Iowa. At the end of a journey of three hundred and fifty
miles, the vanguard with Brigham Young arrived at Council
Bluffs, a place of renown as its name implies, where the Indians
were in the habit of gathering in the council of their nations.
From their city of exodus, (Nauvoo) were scattered along this
trail of emigrating "Mormons," these companies of emigrants,
small and large. At Garden Grove, some sixty miles west of
Nauvoo, a small town was located, a place for halting and rest for
the later companies. Mount Pisgah, for the same purpose, was
established, this latter town being about one hundred and fifty
miles west from Nauvoo.
Oregon, at that time, was in the possession of the United
states, and President Polk had recommended to Congress that
stockade forts be built along the overland route to that distant
part, as a protection to emigrants. In anticipation of a law being
passed to this effect, the Saints endeavored to secure the work of
building the forts. They knew they could do the work as well
and as cheaply as any others, as they expected to travel some dis-
tance in that direction. Besides, the means to te earned by such
work would greatly aid in supporting them; and the fact of their
being in the employ of the government might serve as a guaranty
of their good faith and their protection.
In alluding to this in a circular issued by the High Council at
Nauvoo, by the direction of President Brigham Young, January 20,
1846, it was stated that,
Should hostilities arise between the government of the United States
and other powers, in relation to the right of possessing the territory
of Oregon, we are on hand to sustain the United States government to
THE LOYALTY OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 605
that country. It is geographically ours; and of right no foreign power
should hold dominion there; and if our services are required to prevent
it, those services will be cheerfully rendered according to our ability.
President Young also wrote to Elder J. C. Little, who was
presiding over the Saints in the New England States, on the 26th
of January, 1846, as follows:
If our government should offer facilities for emigrating to the west-
ern coast, embrace those facilities if possible. As a wise and faithful
man, take every honorable advantage of the times you can. Be thou a
savior and a deliverer of the people, and let virtue, integrity and truth
be your motto, salvation and glory the prize for which you contend.
Elder Little remained at Washington several days, awaiting
definite instructions in regard to the matter, and in the meantime
addressed an appeal to the president, setting forth some of the
grievances of the Saints, alluding to their intention to journey
westward and testifying to their loyalty.
Afterwards, Elder Little had an interview with the president,
who informed him that he had read the petition with interest, and
that his people should be protected as good citizens, which he
believed them to be.
Before leaving, however, the elder learned, by a subsequent
interview, that the design of the president had been changed, and
that five hundred men would be called for as U. S. volunteers,
to join General Taylor in Mexico. He also learned that the president
had instructed the secretary of war to make out dispatches to
Colonel Kearney, commander of the army of the West, relative
to the contemplated "Mormon" Battalion.
From the time the Saints first concluded to leave Nauvoo in
order to secure freedom from persecution, rumors and specula-
tions were rife as to their probable destination. It was confi-
dently asserted by many persons in authority that the government
would interfere to prevent them if they attempted to journey west
to the Rocky mountains. Governor Ford, in writing to Sheriff
Backenstos, as early as December 29, 1845, expressed the belief
that the government would prevent their removal, as they would
be likely to "join the British." Soon afterwards Amos Kendall,
ex-postmaster general, who claimed to be familiar with the plans
606 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
of the president and cabinet, also informed Elder Samuel Brannan
that such was the intention. They were to be prevented upon
the plea that it was contrary to law for an armed force from the
United States to invade the dominion of another government. Of
course, the Saints did not propose to go as a hostile force, but as
peaceable citizens seeking a home. They had, however, suffered
so much in the past without cause, that this new threat was
regarded with apprehension. Letters were therefore written
from Nauvoo to Hon. Stephen A. Douglas and several other mem-
bers of Congress to secure their influence in favor of the ' 'Mormon"
people. Efforts were also made by the authorities of the Church
to obtain government patronage while journeying westward, with
a view to securing protection from persecution, as well as a means
of subsistence.
The following letter explains itself:
Sir — It is understood that there is a large body of "Mormons'' who
are desirous of emigrating to California, for the purpose of settling in
that country, and I have, therefore, to direct that you will proceed to
their camps and endeavor to raise from among them five companies of
volunteers to join me in my expedition to that country, each company to
consist of any number between seventy-three and one hundred and nine;
the officers of each company will be a captain, first lieutenant and second
lieutenant, who will be elected by the privates and subject to your
approval, and the captains then to appoint the non-commissioned officers,
also subject to your approval. The companies, upon being organized
thus, will be mustered by you into the service of the United States, and
from that day will commence to receive the pay, rations and other allow-
ances given to the other infantry volunteers, each according to his rank.
You will, upon mustering into service the fifth company, be considered
as having the rank, pay and emoluments of a lieutenant-colonel of infan-
try, and are authorized to appoint an adjutant, sergeant-major and
quartermaster sergeant for the battalion.
You will give the "Mormons" distinctly to understand that I wish
to have them as volunteers for twelvemonths; that they will be marched
to California, receiving pay and allowances during the above time, and
at its expiration they will be discharged and allowed to retain, as their
private property, the guns and accoutrements furnished to them at the
post.
Each company will be allowed four women as laundresses, who will
THE LOYALTY OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 607
travel with the company, receiving rations and other allowances given
to the laundresses of our army.
With the foregoing conditions, which are hereby pledged to the
"Mormons," and which will be faithfully kept by me and other officers
in behalf of the government of the United States, I cannot doubt but
that you will, in a few days, be able to raise five hundred young and
efficient men for this expedition.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
(Signed) S. F. Kearney,
Colonel of First Dragoons.
To Captain James Allen, First Reg. Dragoons, Fort Leavenworth.
In a circular to the "Mormons, ' Col. Allen said:
I have come among you, instructed by Colonel S. F. Kearnev of the
U. S. Army, now commanding the Army of the West, to visit the
"Mormon" camps, and to accept the service for twelve months of five
companies of "Mormon" men, who may be willing to serve their country
for that period in our present war with Mexico, this force to unite with
the Army of the West at Santa Fe, and be marched thence to California,
where they will be discharged.
They will receive pay and rations, and other allowances such as
volunteers or regular soldiers receive, from the day they shall be mus-
tered into the service, and will be entitled to all comforts and benefits
of regular soldiers of the army, and when discharged as contemplated
at California, they will be given, gratis, their arms and accoutrements,
with which they will be fully equipped at Fort Leavenworth. This is
offered to the "Mormon'' people now.
This gives an opportunity of sending a portion of their young and
intelligent men to the ultimate destination of their whole people, and
entirely at the expense of the United States, and this advanced party can
thus pave the way and look out the land for their brethren to come after
them. Those of the "Mormons" who are desirous of serving their
country, on the conditions here enumerated, are requested to meet me
without delay at their principal camp at Council Bluffs, whither I am
going to consult with their principal men, and to receive and organize
the force contemplated to be raised.
I will receive all healthy, able-bodied men of from eighteen to forty-
five years of age.
J. Allen, Captain First Dragoons.
Camp of the "Mormons," at Mt. Pisgah, one hundred and fifty miles east
of Council Bluffs, June 25, 1846.
608 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
Note: — I hope to complete the organization of this batallion in six
days after my reaching Council Bluffs, or within nine days from this
time.
When this officer, Colonel Allen, arrived at Mt. Pisgah he
was referred, with his request for volunteers, to President Brig-
ham Young, who was then with the first companies of "Mormon"
emigrants encamped near Council Bluffs, same two hundred miles
further west, as before stated. Colonel Allen immediately took
up his journey westward, and reaching Council Bluffs made
known his errand to President Young. President Young called his
leading men around him, and laid the matter before them. Not
all the leading men viewed this request in the same light, and
some of them were decidedly unfriendly to it, but Brigham Young
c'osed all dissenting arguments with the statement that the five
companies required by the general government must be furnished
from the "Mormon" camps. He further stated that though men
inhabiting the states of Missouri and Illinois had expelled them
from their homes, that the general government of the United
States had never wronged them, and that the constitution of the
United States was an instrument inspired by revelation from God,
to our forefathers and to the patriots who cemented and builded
this great, free government with their labor, with their toil, with
their sweat and with their blood, and if the government required
our help, the help of the "Mormon" people, to maintain or enlarge
this great, free republic, they should have it, and we would aid to
the fullest extent of our power. This word was sent from camp to
camp by Brigham Young, carried on swift horses by express riders.
The result of this service was fraught with all the good to the
"Mormon" people that was anticipated by Brigham Young and the
brave boys, the "Mormon" volunteers. For, from the time of
their enlistment until the "Mormon" people left the Missouri river
on their march toward the Great Salt Lake basin, in the year
1847, they were not menaced nor threatened by their enemies,
because, said they, their young men have gone to the war, and
hence the "Mormon" people who were left without their protec-
tion on the prairie are under the protection of the general
government.
The history of the "Mormon" Battalion is too well known to
THE LOYALTY OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 609
need any further comment at this time from me, but it must be
borne in mind that Brigham Young was the leader of the
"Mormon" people, that he was a Moses and a law-giver to them,
and at the time this request came for five hundred able-bodied
men to enlist as U. S. volunteer soldiers, to march to Mexico in the
defence of the United States, the "Mormon" encampments were
scattered for several hundred miles along their trail westward;
and although their leader, Brigham Young, saw clearly that this
enlistment of his young and able men meant a delay of at least a
year in their march to the Rocky mountains, yet he earnestly
counseled and insisted that the required number of volunteers
should be immediately furnished.
When their service in the army was completed, and the
"Mormon" Battalion was disbanded at San Diego, California, Col.
P. St George Cook stated to them his approval of their conduct
as United States volunteers, and said to them:
Fellow Soldiers'— You have performed a march without a parallel in
the history of infantry soldiers, and you have endured uncomplainingly
the hardships and deprivations of the journey, with the bravery and
fortitude of veterans. You have been obedient to command, and patient
under conditions of intense suffering, during your march, many times
deprived of rations and water. Napoleon crossed the Alps, but you have
crossed a continent.
I call your attention to this service, Lieut. Hobson, and will
further refer you to other incidents bearing me out in the state-
ments as to the loyalty of Brigham Young and his people to his
country and to the government of the United States.
In 1862, during the War of the Rebellion, there were two
expeditions called for, consisting of mounted cavalrymen for pro-
tection on the plains against marauding bands of Indians. The
first called out was the latter part of the month of April, 1862,
under command of General Robert T. Burton of the Utah militia.
The order coming from acting Governor Frank Fuller of Utah,
the purpose was for the protection on his journey to the east of
Honorable William H. Hooper, delegate to Congress. General
Burton gives the following account of the expedition:
It will be remembered that this was the season of the highest water
ever known in the Rocky mountains. As a consequence, travel over
610 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
these mountain ranges was almost impossible. Some idea may be
formed of this matter from the fact that it took my command, with all
their energy and exertion possible, nine days to reach Fort Bridger,
only one hundred and thirteen miles from Salt Lake. At the fort we
abandoned our wagons, and proceeded with pack animals from this point.
It is proper also to state here that we received from the government
officers at the fort, provisions, tents and equipage necessary for our con-
tinued journey. From this point eastward we found all mail stations
and also telegraph stations abandoned. Many of them had been burned,
and the coaches still standing in the road, perforated with bullets,
where the band of marauding Indians had also murdered the drivers and
passengers, and taken the horses away with them. In some of the sta-
tions we found large numbers of mail sacks, which had been cut open by
the Indians, and their contents scattered over the ground, which contents
were carefully gathered as far as possible by my company, and carried
on to the stations at North Platte, and delivered to the mail agent at
that point. We continued on to the Laprelle river station, thirty miles
east of North Platte. To this point from the east, the mail coaches still
continued to go and come with safety, and we here transferred the Hon-
orable William H. Hooper to the care of this uninterrupted line of travel
to the East. This expedition was one of the most toilsome and hazard-
ous we have ever experienced, but we succeeded in going and returning,
and accomplishing the safe conduct of Mr. Hooper without the loss of a
man or animal.
Two days after this expedition had left Salt Lake as escort to
Honorable William H. Hooper, President Lincoln, through
Adjutant General Thomas, telegraphed Governor Brigham
Young asking him to raise and equip one full company of cavalry
for the purpose of protecting the mail and telegraph lines, also
to rebuild and restore the stations that had already been destroyed
by the Indians between Fort Bridger and the North Platte station,
and for establishing protection to those lines. The following
telegram was sent in answer:
Salt Lake City, May 1, 1862.
Adj. Gen. L. Thomas,
U. S. Army, Washington, D. C:
On receipt of your telegram April 28, General D. H. Wells, of the
Utah militia,, was instructed by me to proceed to raise the company of
cavalry to be mustered into the service of the United States for the term
THE LOYALTY OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. 611
of ninety days, for the purpose of re-establishing and maintaining the
mail and telegraph service lines, west of the Missouri river. Today,
May 1, 1862, the company of seventy-two privates, officered and equipped
as directed, with a commissariat of ten wagons, took up their march for
Independence Rock, in the region of the North Platte river.
(Signed) Brigham Young.
The officers of the company were as follows: Captain, Lot
Smith. First Lieutenant, Joseph L. Rawlins. Second Lieutenant,
John Quincy Knowlton. Orderly Sergeant, Richard Atwood. Com-
missary Sergeant, James M. Barlow. Sergeants: 1. Samuel W.
Riter. 2. John P. Wimmer. 3. Howard 0. Spencer. 4. Moses
Thurston. Corporals: 1. Seymour B. Young. 2. Newton Meritt.
3. William A. Bringhurst. 4. John Hoagland. 5. Jos. H. Felt.
6. Andrew Bigler. 7. John Neff. 8. Hyrum D. Clemens.
Farriers: 1. Ira N. Hinckley. 2. John Helm. Wagonmaster:
Soloman H. Hale. Buglers: 1. Josiah Erdley. 2. Charles Evans.
At this time Ben Holliday was government contractor for car-
rying the United States mail from the Missouri river to the Pacific
coast. He at once telegraphed Governor Young his thanks for
the prompt response in sending Utah volunteers onto the plains for
the protection of the mail and telegraph lines, and stated also
that he would replace the coaches and re-establish the mail service
immediately, realizing that he would have ample protection from
the Utah volunteers.
The Utah volunteers for the above named service, were
mustered in on April 30, 1862, at Salt Lake City, Utah, and per-
formed faithfully the service required of them. They were must-
ered out and paid off on March 22, 1863, at the place of their
enlistment.
On October 17, 1861, the Overland or Pacific Telegraph line
was completed to Salt Lake City, and the first message was sent
to Hon. J. H. Wade, president of the company, at Cleveland,
Ohio, on the 18th, by Brigham Young, to whom the first use of
the line had been courteously tendered. After congratulations,
President Young closed his message with these loyal words:
Utah has not seceded, but is firm for the Constitution and laws of
612 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
our once happy country, and is warmly interested in such useful enter-
prises as the one so far completed.
Brigham Young.
At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, 1898, Major
Richard W. Young, grandson of President Brigham Young, and a
graduate of West Point, offered his services to the governor of
Utah. He was appointed senior captain of the two batteries, A
and B. Captain Young's battery A, and Captain Grant's battery B
were well posted, and, with the rest of the land forces, assisted
Admiral Dewey in the bombarding of Manila, and captured that
city with fourteen thousand of the Spanish forces. During the
period of conquest which followed, Captain Young was appointed
Superior Provost Judge of Manila, and performed the duties of
this office in addition to the duties of battalion major, to which he
had also been recently appointed. In 1899, Major Young and
Captain Grant of the Utah batteries, were granted a leave of
absence to visit the ports of Japan and China. On the 4th of Feb-
ruary was anticipated a further attack from the Philippines, and to
prepare for this, General Mc Arthur requested Major Young, who
had now returned with his two batteries, to place himself in readi-
ness, and during the fierce battle which followed and raged from
the night of the 4th and all day on the 5th and 6th, these batter-
ies did gallant service in assisting in the capture of General Agui-
naldo's forces. During this great battle for two nights and two
days, John G. Young, sergeant, and Dr. Harry Young, surgeon
and captain, were killed. These young men were both nephews of
President Brigham Young. This fact is mentioned to show the
fighting stock from which these young men have sprung; for be it
remembered, John Young, their grandfather, and the father of
President Brigham Young, was a soldier in the Revolutionary
army, and was under the immediate command of General
Washington.
In 1901, Major Richard W. Young returned home, and since
that time has built up a large and successful law practice, and is
one of the honored sons of Utah, both as a soldier and a civilian.
Salt Lake City, Utah.
Wild Justice Under Law.
BY HUGO B. ANDERSON.
Some early traders in the trail of Lewis and Clark to the
great Northwest, impressed with stories of the wealth of an Indian
tribe which inhabited a high plateau arising abruptly from the left
bank of the Clearwater river, turned aside to make investigations.
They discovered the Nez Perce prairie, used by the Nez Perce
Indians as a roving ground and a pasturage for ponies. Finding
no water fit to drink on the plateau, they pushed on to its western
extremity, where they descended abruptly for a thousand feet into
a narrow gulch, in the bottom of which trickled a small, sparkling
stream. Here they established a trading station, and because the
place from above resembled a well, they called the spot Cul de
Sac, which interpreted means "hole in the ground."
Whether the suggestion of drink in this name had a bad effect
upon the post, or whether these Indians had a particularly strong
natural craving for alcohol, I do not pretend to say, but at any
rate this much is certain, Culdesac became a noted place for the
distribution of fire-water to the red man, and the early white set-
tlers of Culdesac are to be held responsible for many misdeeds of
the red man, and much of his apparent harshness and cruelty, even
down to the present time.
I.
Near the doorway of a wigwam, on the banks of the Clear-
water river, burned a fire of pine, whose flickering light half
revealed a dense background of timber and the outline of high
cliffs beyond. At the opening of the wigwam stood a squaw,
listening intently for some sound through the darkness of the
614 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
night. Within, a boy of eight years rolled about on a blanket.
The thud of a horse's hoofs broke the silence of the night. A
pony and rider emerged from the darkness. At the entrance of
the wigwam, the rider, uttering a wild shout, half fell, half dis-
mounted from his panting steed. As he gave the reins to the
woman, he staggered. The light of the fire disclosed an insens-
ible, reeling expression in his black eyes. She approached him,
and speaking in her native tongue pointed despairingly at an
empty pot near the fire and then to the child within. The red
man made no answer save a low grumble, but picking up a thin,
pointed rod, used by the Indians for spiking salmon, he threw
back his broad shoulders, and, with a futile attempt at bodily con-
trol, started for the river. The squaw seized his arm, but with a
heavy thrust he forced her back, grasped a burning fagot of
pine from the fire and stumbled on to a canoe at the water's edge.
The woman uttered a low cry. The boy sprang from the blanket,
and rushing to her side stationed himself between her clasped
hands.
Together they watched the burning fagot glide out through
the darkness over the waters of the river. Occasionally the light
fell upon the Indian, as his great bulk rocked from side to side in
his tiny skiff. The light began to move slowly down stream. He
had ceased to paddle, and was holding the torch at the end of the
boat to attract the salmon. Then the light was raised, disclosing
the Indian at full height in the rear of the boat, with spike
raised to strike. He reeled. The fagot shot downward like a
falling star, and was extinguished. There was a splash, as if a
huge stone from the opposite cliffs had fallen into the deep waters
of the river. All was dark and silent. The squaw's arms tight-
ened around her boy. Motionless they listened, silent ages it
seemed. A screech owl somewhere in the darkness made a hid-
eous noise, which was echoed, as if in mockery, from side to side
of the deep canyon. The squaw and the boy stood apart. They
raised their arms and gazed heavenward to the Great Spirit. Long
they stood.
"It was the fire-water of the white man," murmured the
squaw.
WILD JUSTICE UNDER LAW. 615
The two broke forth into cries, and danced wildly about
the fire.
II.
It is a striking fact that the doctrine of the solidarity of the
race, which civilized peoples today use as the basis of their sys-
tems of ethics, is a belief of most savages. If one of their tribe
dies by the hand of a stranger, the stranger's tribe is held
responsible, and one of the tribe, it matters not whether he be the
guilty one or no, must die to pay the debt. It is a sort of wild
justice which we call tribal revenge.
But before Robin Blackeagle had developed to sufficient size
and strength to call upon the white man to pay the penalty of his
father's death, these demands of wild justice had been tempered
by the obligations of law and love. The great United States gov-
ernment had made of the Nez Perce prairie an Indian reservation,
and Robin had lived for ten years at the expense of the govern-
ment in an Indian school. Here he had been taught by a fair girl
of the white race, several years his younger — Elaine, the school-
mistress of Nez Perce post. She was slender, with brown hair and
blue eyes, and he was ,big and strong, with glossy black hair, and
eyes as black as night. The tender look in her large, deep eyes
had inspired the savage, boyish mind of Robin to greater things.
He had studied and toiled onward and upward, as only a big soul
impelled by the love of a woman can. Slowly his dream to
become the leading spirit of his tribe was realized. His striking
personality and intellectual strengh attracted the attention of
officials, and he was appointed Indian deputy in the employ of the
government to enforce its laws on the reservation. Then, because
of the things the girl had done for him, she learned to love him.
And he loved her because of the man she had made of him. So
now he was having a frame house built, like the houses of the
white man, on the bluff overlooking the Clearwater river, and the
tiny valley at its side where he spent his savage boyhood. She
had promised to leave her father's pine-surrounded cabin, beside
the clear lake in the canyon above Culdesac, and share with him his
prairie home. Nor was this a small sacrifice, for the girl's mother
had died while she was yet a child, and she, living apr.rt with her
616 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
father in the seclusion of their mountain home, had grown to love
him with a double love.
That the girl could break so great an attachment and give up
her school ties for an Indian, created no little wonder and interest
among the country folks around. So when Columbus Triplets
invited the young people of Culdesac to the wedding ceremony of
Robin Blackeagle and his fair and popular daughter Elaine, they
came in a body to his mountain retreat. The town minister was
there. In the little, low room of the log cabin, lighted by the pale
glow of a single oil lamp, he placed the fair hand of Elaine in the
strong, dark one of Robin, and made . them husband and wife.
Robin folded the girl in his strong arms, and embraced and kissed
her tenderly, while the young people shouted until the hills rang.
III.
As soon as the Nez Perce prairie was set apart as an Indian
reservation, the government prohibited, under heavy penalty and
imprisonment, the use or sale of liquor within its borders. When
Robin Blackeagle became Indian deputy for the government, the
enforcement of the regulation fell into his hands. The thorough-
ness with which he performed his duty in this regard was more
than once the cause of official commendation. Nevertheless, as
in most prohibition territory, there were violations of the law,
especially among the older settlers. And the tendency among the
townsfolks was to allow this "bootlegging" to go on, and to
excuse their conduct on the ground that the old-timers could not
become accustomed to the new regime, and would soon all be
dead anyway.
By a curious irony of fate, the father of the fair Elaine was
one of the old regime, who, in spite of the law, persisted privately
in an attempt to uphold the former name of Culdesac. Columbus
Triplets was not an attractive man. In fact, it was a stock joke
of the country that Nature seeing the poor job it had made of
Columbus, had given him his beautiful daughter by way of even-
ing things up a little. One of his eyes was curiously turned
inward. He had a very red face, which some Culdesac folk were
in the habit of saying, with a sly glance, he did not acquire
through the use of water from his mountain spring. It wa
WILD JUSTICE UNDER LAW. 617
known also that Triplets took frequent trips away to neighboring
towns, where he would be gone for several days, and sometimes
even weeks.
It was not a great surprise to the young people, therefore,
when, amid the festivities of the wedding ceremony, a clinking of
glasses was heard and Columbus Triplets brought forth from a
side door a box of beer.
"Come!" he shouted, "on such an occasion it is only fitting
that we drink to the health of the bride and my new son-in-law."
The bottles were popped open, the glasses filled.
"All together, three cheers for the bridal pair!" cried
Triplets. "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!"
And the little cabin was almost lifted from the ground by
their shouts. But Robin had turned suddenly ghastly pale and
left the room.
Once outside, he gave a wild cry and rushed to the little
fresh-water lake . His brain whirled. He could not collect his
thoughts. He grasped his head with both hands and found it
hot almost as a flame, notwithstanding the cool night air. He
looked out across the still water. Was it a reality or only a fancy
of his fevered brain? He saw the light of a torch, out in the
darkness, moving slowly above the lake, then falling to the water
with a great splash, leaving all dark and still.
"My father, my father!" he cried.
As if in answer, a screech owl in the tree above him gave its
hideous shriek. Once again he threw his arms heavenward and
called to the Great Spirit. The laughter of the revelers brought
him to his senses.
"Elaine, my wife! Must it be your father?"
He tore his hair and wildly stamped on the ground. But he
was no longer a civilized man. Once again he was a red man,
with all the instincts and passions of his race. He stole to the
cabin, threw open the door and cried,
"Hold!"
The laughter ceased, the glasses were dropped, as all turned
to the entrance. The pale light fell upon his tall figure. His
chest heaved like that of a sobbing child. His thick black hair
was dishevelled and his eyes were set and glassy.
618 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
"By authority of the United States government, I place
Columbus Triplets under arrest."
Amid a dead silence he stepped forward, and slipped the
handcuffs on his prisoner. Without a parting word to his wife,
or a glance to right or left, he stalked forth into the darkness
with the man who was to pay inadequately the obligation of his
people for the death of an Indian.
IV.
The frame house overlooking the Clearwater river stands
empty and uncared for. Beside it is a wigwam, from the top of
which smoke curls upward. At the opening in front sits Robin
Blackeagle, dressed in moccasins and blanket, with long braids of
hair at his back. He is no longer government deputy. He is
scorned by the white man for doing the thing which white man's
law and Indian instinct compelled him to do. With savage
insight he feels the superficiality of civilization and the injustice
of its ways. But happy, unconsciously, because he has fulfiled
the law of his nature, he sits and watches the river below winding
through its narrow valley, waiting for the days, months, years to
pass, until he shall be taken by the Great Spirit to the hunting
grounds of his father. And the white man passing by, forgetful of
the sin of his own people, and utterly ignoring the motives of the
Indian, tells of his cruelty in deserting the fair Elaine, and
remarks' to his comrade, assuming great wisdom and insight, that
it is useless to endeavor to educate a savage, because he always
returns to his savage ways, to the sorrow of some white who has
made a sacrifice for him!
The Call.
"There's something gets to stirring in my blood this time of year,
A kind of restless longing which with words I can't make clear,
As if the meadrw grasses and the woods and brooks around
Were speaking to my spirit and calling from the ground.
Grandmother kindly hustles round, and fixes tonic tea,
As if my inner works and things were what was troubling me;
But no medicine she knows, or things that doctors make,
Can cure that restless feeling when the buds begin to wake."
— Arthur W. Peach.
A Judge's Temperance Lecture.
At Morris, Grundy county, Illinois, three saloon-keepers — one
woman and two men — were arrested and indicted for selling liquor
to minors. As usual in such cases, the liquor sellers were lavish
in their funds in aid of their unfortunate co-workers, and eminent
counsel was employed in defense of these destroyers of the bodies
and souls of the young and rising generation. But the proof of
their guilt was so fully demonstrated that the jury were compelled
to pronounce them guilty. Hon J. N. Reading, the presiding
judge, in pronouncing the sentence of the court, used the follow-
ing language:
"The jury having found you guilty of selling intoxicating
liquors to a minor, it remains for the court to pronounce the
sentence of the law. The penalty for this offense, fixed by the
legislature, indicates that it considered the crime to be of a serious
character. By the law you may sell to men and to women, if they
will buy. You have given your bond and paid for your license to
sell to them, and no one has the right to molest you in your legal
business. No matter what the consequence may be, no matter what
poverty and destitution are produced by selling according to law,
you have paid your money for this privilege, and you are licensed
to pursue jour calling. No matter what families are distracted
and rendered miserable, no matter what wives are treated with
violence) what children starve, or mourn over the degradation of a
parent, your business is legalized, and no one may interfere with
you in it. No matter what mother may agonize over the loss of
a son, or sister blush for the shame of a brother, you have the
right to disregard them all, and pursue your legal calling; you are
licensed. You can fit up your lawful place of business in the most
enticing and captivating form; you can furnish it with the most
620 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
elegant and costly equipment for your lawful trade ; you may fill it
with the allurements to amusements; you may use all your arts to
induce visitors; you may skillfully expose to view your choice
wines and most captivating beverages; you may then induce thirst
by all contrivances to produce a raging appetite for drink, and
then you may supply that appetite to the full — because it is law-
ful; you have a license. You may allow boys, almost children, to
frequent your saloon; they may witness the apparent satisfaction
with which their seniors quaff the sparkling glass; you may be
schooling and training them for the period of twenty-one, when
they, too, can participate — for all this is lawful. You may hold
the cup to their very lips; but you must not let them drink —
that is unlawful. But, while you have all these privileges for
the money which you pay, this poor privilege of selling to children
is denied you. Here parents have a right to say, 'Leave my son
to me until the law gives you the right to destroy him! Do not
anticipate that terrible moment when I can assert for him no
further rights of protection! That will be soon enough for me,
for his mother, for his sisters, for his friends, and for the com-
munity to see him take his road to death. Give him to us in his
childhood, at least! Let us have a few years of his young life,
in which we may enjoy his innocence, to repay us in some degree
for the care and love we have lavished upon him!' This is some-
thing you, who now stand prisoners at the bar, have not paid for;
this is not embraced in your license. You have your 'bond' to
use in its full extent, but in thus taking your 'pound of flesh'
you draw the blood, and that which is nearest the heart. The
law in its wisdom does not permit this, and you must obey the
law. By the verdict of the jury you have been found guilty of
transgressing the law. Its extreme penalty is thirty days'
imprisonment in the county jail, and one hundred dollars fine; its
lowest, ten days imprisonment and twenty dollars fine.
"For this offense, the court sentences you to ten days'
imprisonment and seventy -five dollars and costs; and that you stand
committed until the fine and costs of this prosecution are paid."
Remember, dear reader, you are to say by your vote, June
27, whether or not licensed or legalized saloons and the sale of
liquor are to continue or be prevented in Utah. What will you do?
Pen Pictures of the Holy Land.
From Dan to Beersheba.
BY HAMILTON GARDNER.
VII.— The Land of the Pharaohs.
Egypt has been the scene of enough
Biblical history that it may be called a
part of the Holy Land, in the general
sense of the term. Here Joseph, an
obscure prisoner, rose to a high posi-
t:on in the kingdom of Pharaoh. The
children of Israel were captives in the
land until led away by Moses. And
it was hither that Joseph and Mary
fled when their Child's life was imper-
iled. But it is not religious inter-
est that brings most travelers to Egypt. The attractions that draw
the thousands of foreigners who visit the land of the Nile every
year, are its wonderful archaeological treasures and its almost ideal
climate during the winter months.
My tour of Egypt began at Port Said. This city is at the
west entrance to the Suez canal, and its commercial activity is
devoted almost wholly to the trade that passes through "De
Lesseps' big ditch." Its population is of necessity largely of the
seafaring and transient kind, and this may account for its repu-
tation of being the most wicked city in the world. Certainly the
dirty, wooden houses, and the ill-favored Levantines one
A MOHAMMEDAN FUNERAL
PROt'ESSION.
622
IMPROVEMENT ERA.
sees in Port Said, do little to refute this reputation.
As the railroad from Port Said to Cairo runs parallel with the
Suez canal for some distance, I had an admirable opportunity to
observe this enterprise that has meant so much to commercial
intercourse between Europe and Asia. Big, noisy, clanking
dredges, with huge buckets, were keeping the canal clear of sand
Ships, flying almost every flag known on the seas, were passing
through, from an Arabian sailboat to a British man- of -war. As the
train drew away from the canal, we experienced a strange delu-
sion. The banks shut the water off from our view, and to us it
seemed as if the ships were sailing along on the sand. The excel-
lent Egyptian State railway soon brought us to Cairo.
Cairo is the city of paradoxes. It is an old city and a new city;
an Oriental city and an Occidental city ; a seat of the greatest lux-
ury and the direst poverty; a centre of the worship of mammon,
and a home of some of the most devout and fanatical believers in
the world: the goal alike of the learned scholar and the confirmed
pleasure-seeker. In addi-
tion to the ancient charac-
ter and old ruins which
Cairo inherits from the
past ages, the occupancy
of the English, and the
great number of foreign
visitors, have given it a
distinctly modern tone.
Here the people of the
mysterious East meet the
people of the active, pro-
gressive West. The won-
derful winter climate at-
tracts the titled aristoc-
racy of Europe, and the
moneyed aristocracy of
America, and gives them
an almost ideal playground .
As a result, some of the cairo— the citadel and mosque of
most luxurious and costly MOHAMMED ALI-
PEN PICTURES OF THE HOLY LAND.
623
All the photographs by the author.
THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH.
hotels in the world are found in Cairo. Rubbing elbows with these
idle rich are native Egyptians whose poverty is not surpassed any-
where else in the world. In contrast with the pleasure-loving
visitors these people are Mohammedans of the most fanatic and
zealous type. And in contrast with the fashionable foreigners,
again, are the scientists, who find in Egypt's wonderful store of
archaeological treasures the most fruitful field in the world for
research.
So it is not strange that one finds Cairo has wide, well-paved
streets and an excellent street
railway system, even though
the natives use donkeys as
extensively as in any other
parts of the Orient. An auto-
mobile goes whizzing past a
train of camels, English
noblemen share the sidewalk
with Bedouin laborers, and a
party of American tourists
wait for a native Mohamme-
dan funeral to pass— con-
THE SECOND PYRAMID OP GIZEH VIEWED
FROM THE TOP OP THE FIRST.
624
IMPROVEMENT ERA.
trasts on every side,
great interest to him
In Cairo the traveler finds many things of
There are mosques galore, an interesting
old citadel, in which stands
the beautiful m( sque of Moham-
med Ali, with two tall minarets
overlooking the city; and many
richly decorated tombs of the
old Egyptian rulers. For the
archaeologist, the national Mu-
seum, with its priceless store of
Egyptian antiquities of every
kind, surpasses any other in the
world; while for those who are
interested in .Arabic culture,
there is a museum of Arabian
antiquities of inestimable worth,
and to see the charm and col-
oring of oriental life one has
only to visit one of the bazars.
But by far the greatest of
Cairo's attractions are the pyra-
mids of Gizeh and the Sphinx.
These colossal monuments of
the Egyptian building art have for cen-
turies been world-renowned. They lie
across the muddy Nile from Cairo, on the
edge of the Lybian desert — three large
pyramids and six small ones. Although
they have withstood the ravages of time
since 3733 B. C, when the largest one
was built, they stand today almost as
perfect as then.
These famous structures are all
regular four-sided pyramids. The length
of the side of the largest — the pyramid
of Cheops — is 750 feet, its perpendicular
height 450 feet, and the sloping side
THE SPHINX.
A SHIP OF THE DESERT
AT THE PYRAMIDS.
PEN PICTURES OF THE HOLY LAND. 625
570 feet. It contains 3,057,000 cubic yards, although its con-
tents were originally 3,277,000 cubic yards. Think of a mass of
stone covering thirteen acres, and containing over seven million
tons of rock, as does the Pyramid of Cheops. The second pyramid is
smaller, and the third is only about half as large as the first. The
colossal size of these structures can be somewhat imagined by
the effect of an attempt made by an Arab ruler of Egypt to tear
the third pyramid down. For a number of years he employed all
the men he could muster, but he did not succeed in making more
than a slight impression on one side.
A TYPICAL EGYPTIAN MONUMENT AT ALEXANDRIA.
The problem of the construction of the pyramids has
always baffled investigators. Even today the theory that the
rocks were rolled into place on dirt roadways, still remains only a
presumption. How long the work of building lasted, and how
many men were employed is unknown, except by the statement of
the Greek historian, Herodotus, who says it took twenty years to
build the largest pyramid, and that two hundred thousand men
worked on it. Modern engineers, however, are inclined to doubt
this.
As most tourists do, I climbed to the top of the pyramid. It
took about fifteen minutes, even with the help of three Bedouins,
whose unsolicited services every one must bear. The rocks are
626 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
about three feet high, so the climb is still a tiring one. But the
view from the top is worth the exertion. To the west is the
Lybian desert, absolutely bare of vegetation, to the east the well-
watered plain on which Cairo stands — another of the city's
contrasts.
A visit to the interior of the pyramid is also a novel experi-
ence. With lighted candles and a Bedouin to hold me on each
side I passed through the entrance, which is in the face of the
pyramid just a short distance above the ground. The passage is
very slippery and little niches in the stone furnish the only foot-
hold, hence the value of the assistance of two barefooted Bedouins.
For two hundred feet the passage slopes down, then it divides, the
upper one leading to the burial chamber of the king, the lower one
to that of the queen. It seems incredible that such a monstrous
structure should be reared for the mere purpose of serving as a
tomb for two people, but such many believe to be the case.
The Sphinx, equally as famous as the pyramids, lies to one
side of the latter. It is cut out of the solid rock, and represents
a crouching lion with a human head. The face was apparently
sculptured with great care, but the features are not very plain
now, the nose being entirely gone. The inscrutable, questioning
look, for which the Sphinx is famous, can still be distinguished,
however.
With the train passing close to the Nile much of the time, I
reached Alexandria from Cairo. From the time of the founding
of this city by Alexander the Great to the present, it has been the
scene of many important historical events. Here a Grecian
school of philosophy rose and flourished, to be supplanted later by
the Christian faith. Here Caesar lived for a time, and this was
the home of the beautiful and voluptuous queen, Cleopatra. As a
commercial city, it is now one of the most important on the Medi-
terranean.
In Alexandria I said good-by to Egypt ''the cradle of civil-
ization," and sailed for Greece.
University of Utah.
( TO BE CONTINUED.)
Joseph Smith, a Prophet of God.
BY ELDER GEORGE W. CROCKWELL.
VII.
In continuing my remarks upon verse 6 of section 87, Doc
trine and Covenants, and naming to you the earthquakes, I shall
only give the year and the name of the country in which they have
occurred since the year 1860, without entering into details as to
loss of life and property:
1860, Cornwall, England, January 13; 1861, Perugia, Italy, May 8,
Mendoza, South America, Greece, North Morea, Corinth, and other
places; 1862, Guatemala; 1863, Rhodes, April 22, Manila, July 2 and 3,
Central, West and Northwest England, October 6; 1865, Macchia, Bindi-
nella, Sicily, July 18; 1866, Tours-Blois in France, September 14; 1867,
Argostoli, Cephalonia, February 4, Mitylene, March 8, and 9, Djokjo,
Java, June 10; 1868, many towns in Peru and Ecuador destroyed August 13
and 15, West England and South Wales; 1869, Santa Maura and Ionian
islands, December 28; 1870, Quebec, Canada, October 20; Calobra, several
villages destroyed, October 20; 1871, Northwest part of England, March
17, Yorkshire, England; California, U. S. A., March 22; 1872, California,
U. S. A,, several small towns destroyed, March 22, Lehrae, Eastern
Calci, March 26 and 27; South Frontier India destroyed December 14-15,
San Salvador nearly destroyed, March 19, North of Italy, at Venice,
Verona, June 29: 1874, Azagra, Spain, July 22, Antigua, and
places in Guatemala destroyed with great loss of life, September 3;
1875, Kara Hissa and other places in Asia Minor, May 3 to 5, Sungaria
and neighborhood, May 12, San Jose de Cucuta and other towns near
Santander, S. A., destroyed May 16 to 18, Lahore and vicinity, India,
December 12; 1880, Valparaiso; 1883, Ischia and Krakatau; 1884, Col-
chester and the east part of England; 1885, Malaga and Granada; 1886,
Charleston, South Carolina; 1891, Japan; 1892, Mexico; 1900, eruption
of Mt. Axum in Japan;1901, the entire year was marked with calamities —
January, earthquake in Mexico; February, earthquake in Transcaucasia;
May, earthquake followed by eruptions of Mount Peele and La Solfriere;
1902, West India islands were disturbed; 1903, Guatemala; 1905, Cala-
628 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
bria District, Southwest Italy, between the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas,
called the toe of the country; 1906, San Francisco and Jamaica; 1907,
the earthquake at San Francisco, with its direful effects and loss of life
and property, is still fresh in the public mind.
With the proofs presented, showing the fulfilment of this
prophecy, I would ask the question, can any one point to a
prophecy recorded in the Bible that has been more completely ful-
filed than this revelation on war? But, before leaving this reve-
lation, I desire to add the last prophecy made by Joseph Smith, as
it also points to a period of war:
When at the hotel at Carthage, a prisoner in the hands of the mob
officials, he asked them if he appeared like a desperate character. They
replied that his outward appearance seemed to indicate exactly the
opposite, but they could not tell what was in his heart. To this the
prophet responded, "Very true, gentlemen, you cannot see what is in
my heart, and you are therefore unable to judge me or my intentions.
But I can see what is in your hearts, and will tell you what I see: I can
see your thirst for blood, and nothing but my blood will satisfy you. It
is not for crime of any description that I and my brethren are thus con-
tinually persecuted and harassed by our enemies, but there are other
motives, and some of them I have expressed, so far as relates to myself.
And inasmuch as you and your people thirst for blood, I prophesy, in the
name of the Lord, that you shall witness scenes of blood and sorrow to
your entire satisfaction. Your souls shall be perfectly satisfied with
blood, and many of you who are now present shall have the opportunity
to face the cannon's mouth from sources you think not of, and those
people who desire this great evil upon me and my brethren shall be filled
with regret and sorrow because of the scenes of desolation and distress
that await them. — Life of Joseph Smith, page 473.
Was this fulfilled? Let the North and the South answer.
I have presented to you a number of the prophecies by Joseph
Smith, with proof of their fulfilment, sufficient to convince the
most skeptical who will weigh them without prejudice. Before
doing so, I placed before you a test that was given to Moses by
the Lord, whereby a prophet should be judged. I now ask, in all
candor, has he not passed that test with honor? If he has, there
are two conclusions we must come to: first, he was a prophet of
God; second, being a prophet of God, the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints must be the only true Church, with divine
JOSEPH SMITH, A PROPHET OF GOD. 629
authority to administer the ordinances of salvation on the earth.
Before closing, I desire to present for your most rigid investi-
gation a test which the Lord gave to this generation — that it
might be left without excuse — whereby all may know whether
Joseph Smith was a true prophet or an impostor.
You will find it in the Doctrine and Covenants, section 67.
If Joseph Smith was an impostor, he was a most fearless one,
but his every act and word show that he had a positive assurance
that he was an inspired man. He advanced many ideas, and issued
many commandments in the name of the Lord.
In the year 1831, a conference had been called to consider
the advisability of arranging and publishing the revelations that
had been given to Joseph Smith by the Lord.
Joseph Smith was not an educated man, and therefore was
not very exact in the use of the English language. At this con-
ference there were several men who were more learned, and a dis-
cussion arose as to the language used in the various revelations.
Some thought they should be revised and corrected to more fully
agree with the rules which govern the language in which they
were written. But the Prophet Joseph declared he had received
them from the Lord, and, in his fearlessness, he issued a challenge
the most daring.
I will quote verses four to eight of saii section, as follows:
And now I, the Lord, give unto you a testimony of the truth of
these commandments which are lying before you;
Your eyes have been upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jr., and his
language you have known, and his imperfections you have known : and
you have sought in your hearts knowledge that you might express beyond
his language, this you also know.
Now listen to this challenge:
Now seek ye out of the Book of Commandments, even the least that
is among them, and appoint him that is most wise among you;
Or, if there be any among you, that shall make one like unto it,
then ye are justified in saying that ye do not know that they are true;
But if ye cannot make one like unto it, ye are under condemnation
if ye do not bear record that they are true.
It was a most daring thing to do, if he had written them in
and of himself. He who had never had the opportunity of obtaining
630 IMPRO VEMENT ERA .
even a common school education, to throw such a challenge in the
face of Sidney Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery and William E. McLellin,
all well educated men. Sidney Rigdoa had been educated for
the ministry, Oliver Cowdery and William E. McLellin were school
teachers. The latter had taught school in at least five states of
the Union, and in addition to this had been gifted by nature with
a flow of language that was far more fluent than that of any of
his constituents.
Was it egotism or conceit that led the prophet to brave these
educated men — or was this the son of the poor of the earth
endowed from on high?
This challenge brought one of these men down in the dust of
humiliation. I will give you the account as written by Joseph
himself:
After the foregoing was received, William E. McLellin, as the
wisest man, in his own estimation, having more learning than sense,
endeavored to write a commandment like unto one of the least of the
Lord's, but failed; it was an awful responsibility to write in the name
of the Lord. The elders and all present that witnessed this vain attempt
of a man to imitate the language of Jesus Christ, renewed their faith in
the fulness of the gospel, and in the truth of the commandments and
revelations which the Lord had given to the Church through my in-
strumentality; and the elders signified a willingness to bear testimony of
their truth to all the world.
Thi3 test, as you see, was given in the lifetime of the prophet
Joseph. But it is just as good today. When the Book of Doc-
trine and Covenants was published, this divinely appointed test
was included. You will find it in section 67.
It stands as a challenge to all the world — choose your wise
and great men, and see if any can write a revelation or command-
ment that equals the least in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants
as given to Joseph Smith. If he cannot, then, according to the word
of the Lord as set forth in the challenge, are "ye under condemna-
tion if ye do not bear record that they are true;" and if they are
true, "Mormonism," so called, is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and
Joseph Smith a prophet of God.
(the end.)
Portland, Oregon.
From Nauvoo to Salt Lake in the Van of
the Pioneers.
The Original Diary of Erastus Snow.
EDITED BY HIS SON, MORONI SNOW.
IV.
As set forth in the last number of the Era, the pioneers
were left in and about Council Bluffs, building cabins, cutting hay.
and otherwise preparing for winter. Continuing his journal, Elder
Snow records:
The Twelve, with the main body of the Saints, were about
three miles west of the Missouri, upon the Omaha lands, at a
place which they called Cutler's Park where they were making
similar preparations for winter. A small company, consisting of
little more than one hundred wagons, had passed beyond the west-
ern bank of the river, and after reaching the old Pawnee Mis-
sionary station about one hundred and thirty miles west of the
Missouri river, turned to the north about one hundred and fifty
miles and struck the Missouri river again at the mouth of the
Running VVater, on the Ponca lands, from which tribe they
obtained leave to winter there. We crossed the river and reached
the main camp at Cutler's Park, September 1, 1846.
Nearly seven months had elapsed 3ince our first move from
Nauvoo, and we were but little more than three hundred miles
upon our journey. Among the immediate causes that may be
assigned for this slow progress, I wouid name the fact that the
roads and bridges were made new as we advanced, and the almost
unparalleled rains which swelled the streams and otherwise rend-
632 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
ered the roads impassable for weeks at a time, and the consequent
exposure of men, women and children. The contamination of the
atmosphere, by the overflowing of the waters, spread disease and
death throughout all our camp and greatly weakened our hands,
as if the Lord, to render our sacrifice more complete, and to dem-
onstrate more perfectly before angels and men our integrity and
perseverance, had, as in days of old, given the prince of the power
of the air special leave to open his floodgates upon us, as if he
would swallow us up. Another reason was the sending of an
officer to meet the camp east of the Missouri to demand of us five
hundred volunteers to serve the Government in the Mexican war.
* * * The Saints were not afraid, and trusted in the living
God and listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit. The five hundred
men were enlisted and on their march toward Mexico before I
arrived at the Bluffs. Thus crippled, we were unable to prosecute
the journey farther this season. All commenced preparations for
wintering on the Missouri.
After laboring about one month cutting hay for the stock,
the main camp moved about three miles on to the Missouri bot-
toms,where they erected, in the short space of about three months,
nearly six hundred houses for winter, and called the place Winter
Quarters. Myself and several membere of my family were taken
sick about the time of our arrival at Cutler's Park. My youngest
child, Charles Henry, died on the 9th of September, (1846) and
was buried at Cutler's Park. I did not recover my health until
December. During the months of December and January, I per-
formed several trips to St. Joseph and other parts of Missouri, to
get provisions for my own family and others.
In January, (1847) a revelation was given through President
Brigham Young, showing the will of the Lord concerning the
organization of the Saints for the further prosecution of our
journey. Elders Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, Amasa Lyman,
George A. Smith, Ezra T. Benson and Erastus Snow were desig-
nated in the revelation to organize the people into companies and
appoint captains of tens, fifties and hundreds, with a president
and two counselors over the company, and to teach the people
the will of the Lord concerning them. Consequently, Orson Pratt
and Wilford Woodruff went to Mount Pisgah and Garden Grove;
FROM NAUVOO TO SALT LAKE. 633
George A. Smith and Amasa Lyman to the camps east of the
Missouri river; and Ezra T. Benson and myself were sent to the
Running Water to organize the Saints at Ponca and teach them
their duty.
We started February 1, 1847. The weather was intensely
cold,, and considerable snow. We were accompanied by Brothers
0. P. Rockwell and Sam Gulley. We had light wagons and horses
and carried our provisions and horse feed with us. We bore
northwest on to the Elk Horn river, and followed up the same
several days, and then turned north again and struck the Missouri
a few miles below the mouth of the Running Water. The Saints
there were much rejoiced to see us, and to receive the word of
the Lord concerning them, and to hear from their brethren at
Winter Quarters. We found it to be about one hundred and
seventy miles.
Having instructed them and organized them, we returned
home to commence preparations for starting early in the spring
with a company of pioneers, which the revelation directed to be
sent in advance to make roads, search out the place where the
Lord should locate a stake of Zion, and prepare for putting in
crops, etc.
April 6, 1847, I met with the apostles, elders and Saints in a
special conference in Winter Quarters, to celebrate the anniversary
of the organization of the Church. Spent a few hours in the
exchange of feeling and in exhortation, and in transacting some
important business, and adjourned by advice of President Brigham
Young, as the most part of the pioneer company were about ready
and anxious to be on their journey westward.
Wednesday, April 7, President Young's team and those
belonging to his family, with many other of the pioneers, started
and moved out seven miles from camp. I loaded my wagon and
prepared for starting. On the 8th, I called my family together
and dedicated them unto the Lord, and commanded them to serve
the Lord with all their hearts, to cultivate peace and love, and
hearken to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit, and pray much;
and inasmuch as they would do this, they should have power over
disease and we should all meet again in the due time of the Lord.
I then laid my hands upon my children and blessed them, beginning
634 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
with the youngest, Mahonri, my infant son three months old; next,
Mary Minerva, infant daughter, six months old; next James, five
years old; and lastly, Sarah Lucinia, oldest daughter, six years
and three months old, blessing each according to the fulness of
my heart and the power of the Holy Ghost. I then administered
to my wife Artimesia, blessing her and rebuking her weakness,
and giving her a charge to her family; also blessed Minerva, giving
her a similiar charge. My temporal business I committed to the
care of Brother Caleb Edwards.
All things being now ready, I started about three o'clock p.
m., taking with me James Craig, an Irishman by birth who had
spent many years of his life in Canada, where also he embraced
the fulness of the gospel. We joined the main camp that evening,
seven miles out, and in time for me to return on horseback, with
twelve others to meet in council Elder Parley P. Pratt, who had
just arrived from England. He informed the council that Elder John
Taylor was on his way up the river with about five hundred dol-
lars worth of astronomical and other instruments, very useful to
the pioneers on their journey. The council voted that the pioneers
move on and cross the Elk Horn river, and the council then
return and meet Elder Taylor next Tuesday in a council, and
receive from him the instruments, and that he should follow in due
time.
Accordingly, today, Friday the 9th, we all returned to camp,
and the company started and went up the divide near the Missouri
waters a few miles, and bore off to the west and camped in the
open prairie about ten miles from our first encampment.
10th. Having no fuel with which to cook, this morning, we took
an early start and soon crossed the Poppy creek, where a few
scattering trees afforded fuel for that portion of the company who
were under the necessity of stopping to cook. The balance of us
taking a southwest course from this creek struck the waters of
Big Elk Horn river about noon, and continued down the river
about eight miles to the old crossing, having traveled about eight-
een miles today. Several of the Twelve and as many others as
had time, myself included, crossed with our teams this evening.
President Brigham Young and the rear of the company camped
five miles up the river. Sunday morning they arrived, and during
FROM NAUVOO TO SALT LAKE. 35
the day all crossed and camped together on the west side of
the Horn, where the broad bottoms extended across to the Platte.
I neglected to state that we crossed our wagons on a raft, pre-
pared by a few of our company who had been sent a few days pre-
vious for this purpose, and we forded the stream with our horses,
it being about four feet deep.
On the 12th the party started up the Platte with instructions
to stop at a point of timber about twelve miles up, and begin
doing some blacksmithing and some other necessary work until the
Twelve returned from Winter Quarters. I returned on horseback
with the Twelve and a few others, and arrived at home about four
o'clock of the same evening.
(to be continued.)
The Vision.
(For the Improvement Era.)
'Twas in the passion of the year, when beauty wore her brightest gown,
And through the spring-kissed atmosphere, the golden morning rippled
down.
The dreamless world in slumber lay; no light, no vision from above,
Until a boy, inspired to pray, retired into a quiet grove.
There, in the deep heart of the wood, he knelt upon the lap of spring;
Perchance he dreamed that solitude and God alone were listening.
But suddenly ihe evil one appeared — midday a total night
Eclipsing earth and sky and sun, suppressing hope, dethroning light.
They wrestled o'er the dewy sod till Joseph's strength was nearly spent;
But not without the eye of God. At length, but suddenly, was rent
Apostasy's unbroken night! And Joseph Smith, the chosen one,
Above him, in a dawn of light, beheld the Father and the Son.
"Lo, this is my beloved Son, give ear to him," the Father said;
And, looking on that Holy One, before the vision vanished,
He asked, "Which church is right, I pray?" not dreaming that the
truth had fled:
"Join none of them, they've gone astray, they're all corrupt," the
Savior said.
"A little while, and you shall sow my blessed gospel seed abroad;
And then the world shall come to know, and praise their prophet and
their God." Theodore E. Curtis.
Editor's Table.
Important Conference Themes.
In his opening address at the first session of the 81st
Annual Conference, April 6, 1911, President Joseph F. Smith
expressed thanks to our Father in heaven for his many blessings,
and called attention to the duty of all Latter-day Saints to
acknowledge the hand of God in all things. Trials and afflictions
come to us sometimes, in the wisdom of Providence, for our good,
but all the proper affairs of life will be overruled by the providence
of God to the good of those who love him, keep his commandments,
and exercise wisdom and judgment in the care and protection of
their lives, the preservation of their health, and the maintenance
of a pure, moral character and manner of life. He expressed
himself as grateful for the beautiful day, and for the presence of
so many Latter-day Saints. Not one but should feel a personal
interest in the welfare and upbuilding of Zion, and contribute
every influence and effort possible for the upbuilding of Zion and
for the joy, peace, comfort, happiness and well-being of all her
inhabitants. The Church is in a prosperous condition in the world,
and we may justly say, "Zion is enjoying the favor and blessing of
Almighty God!"
From personal knowledge, he was enabled to say that those
who are intrusted with the watchcare of the people in the stakes,
wards and organizations of the Church, are exercising their influ-
ence and power for the good of the people. This he could say
of every stake president, and every bishop of a ward. They are
men of truth and soberness, honest, faithful, prayerful, upright,
disposed to do right and to shun the appearance of evil — men who
enjoy the Spirit of the Lord. Not only may this be said with
reference to all the authorities of the regularly organized wards
EDITOR'S TABLE. 637
and stakes of Zion, but also in regard to the officers of our vari-
ous missions. They are men of integrity, who have the love of
God and the people in their hearts and souls, and are willing to
sacrifice time, many precious ties and dear associations to devote
their talents and energy for the salvation of those who sit in dark-
ness.
He referred to the presidency of the Church, whose lives are
an open book to all the Church, and whose integrity and labors
are known to all associated with them, both in business and in the
spiritual affairs of the Church. They are accessible to all who
seek them upon business pertaining to matters of the Church,
temporal and spiritual, and the people are left to judge of their
standing before God and in the Church. With reference to the
Twelve, they are faithful men, willing to comply with every
requirement to the utmost of their strength and ability. This
may be said also of the general authorities of the Church — true to
their covenants, faithful to the people and to the Lord who has
commissioned them to the labor for the salvation of souls and the
building up of Zion.
Some Church Statistics.
President Smith stated that he had ordered prepared a few
statements indicating the condition of the Church in some lines
during the year recently closed. He read from this statement
which set forth that two new stakes, the Duchesne and the Carbon,
had been organized in 1910, and fifteen new wards in the same
period. There are now sixty-two organized stakes of Zion, 696
wards, and twenty-one missions, all requiring the constant super-
vision and attention, not only of the presidents of stakes, high
councils and bishops, but of the presidency of the Church, who
answer many enquiries from almost all of the wards.
The number baptized in the stakes of Zion and in the missions,
during the year, was 15,902.
The birth rate of the Church for the same period was thirty-eight
per thousand, the highest birth rate in the world, so far as available
statistics show.
The death rate was nine per thousand, the lowest death rate in the
world, so far as published statistics have shown. .
638 IMPRO VEMENT ERA .
There were 1,360 couples married in the temples in 1910, and 1,100
couples of Church members married by civil ceremony during the same
year.
There was one divorce to every 5,000 members. The average
divorce rate in the United States is one to every 1,100 souls. This
shows that our divorce rate is only about one-fifth of the average rate in
the nation.
There were 2,028 missionaries laboring in the various missions on
December 31, 1910.
For maintaining missions, and fares for returning missionaries, the
sum of $215,000 was expended. This does not include the very large
sum in the aggregate furnished by the people to assist their sons and
daughters, husbands and fathers, in the mission field.
Upwards of $300,000 was paid by the Church for maintaining
Church schools, and over $200,000 was paid out in the Church to assist
the poor.
The expenses incurred on account of the general authorities of the
Church, operating expenses of the President's, Historian's and Presiding
Bishop's offices, were paid out of revenues derived from investments made
by the Trustee- in-Trust, within the past few years, leaving the tithes
of the Church to be used for the building of ward meetinghouses, stake
tabernacles, and the maintenance of Church schools, temples, missions
abroad, and the support of the poor.
On the 31st of December it was reported that there were 444 high
priests, 632 seventies, and 3,200 elders not enrolled in any of the organ-
ized quorums of the priesthood .
He stated he would say nothing about the long list of non-
tithepayers recorded in the archives of the Church, who hold
membership in the Church; but there are many who faithfully
honor this law, and who provide of their means voluntarily for the
revenues necessary to carry on the great work of the Church in
building meetinghouses, temples and schools, and for missions and
the poor. President Smith referred to
Amusements.
Gymnasiums have become apparently a very urgent neces-
sity of late, also places of amusement. We must not only provide
places of worship for the youth of Zion, as well as for their fathers
and mothers, but also find places for the rational amusement of
EDITOR'S TABLE. 639
our children, in order that they may be kept under proper influ-
ences, away from the contaminating, degrading practices too com-
mon in the world with reference to and in connection with the
amusement of the people.
One thing I desire to say, not that it will amount to anything, I sup-
pose, but it will be a satisfaction to myself at least to speak what I feel
to be the truth, and it is this:
I regret most deeply the sentiments that are expressed by the peo-
ple generally with reference to their choice of amusements. We have
some interest in the old Salt Lake Theatre here, built by President Brig-
ham Young to afford high-class amusement, intellectual, entertaining,
interesting and instructive to those who desire such entertainment. It
has been conducted along these lines for many years, but when we get
a really high-class performance in that theatre, the benches are practi-
cally empty, while the vaudeville theatres, where are exhibitions of
nakedness, of obscenity, of vulgarity and everything else that does not
tend to elevate the thought and mind of man, will be packed from the
pit to the dome. When you have performances of high class that are
intellectual, people do not largely patronize them, but when you bring
a class of performance that appeals to the vulgar, sensual and evil pro-
pensities of men, the seats are full. I do not speak of this as existing
merely here in Utah, I speak of it as a common thing throughout all the
length and breadth of the land. It shows a degradation of sentiment, a
lowering of the standards of intellectuality, the purity of thought, of
nobility, of desire for proper association of the people generally. I
regret this, I am sorry for it, but I wish to say to the Latter-day Saints
that I hope they will distinguish themselves by avoiding the necessity of
being classed with many who prefer the vulgar to the chaste, the obscene
to the pure, the evil to the good, and the sensual to the intellectual.
I hope you will stand by our principles, abide by that which is good-
uplifting and ennobling in character, rather than fall in with the habits
of the world and patronize that which is beneath the dignity of pure-
minded and intelligent people.
Blessings Arising from a Payment of Tithes.
President Smith again referred to the Saints who voluntarily
provide revenue for the purposes enumerated; namely, the poor,
houses of worship, the temples, the schools, the missions, and
other necessary things for the building up of Zion, and said: "God
bless you for your faithfulness to this law of the Lord, for it is a
640 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
law of the Lord; and yet, like all the other laws of the gospel of
Jesus Christ, it is obeyed voluntarily by those who obey it; and
those who do not obey it voluntarily, choose to disobey it, and the
consequence will rest with us all in accordance with our works
and faithfulness.
He referred to the necessity that the First Presidency and the
authorities were under in cutting down to the limits of their
resources the assistance to the various wards and stakes of Zion.
All the aid they asked could not be given, ''but we have given and
are giving, to the extent of the means within our control."
Hundreds of wards have no suitable meetinghouses. They con-
emplate building; and some buildings are now in the course of
erection. The Church is doing what it can to help complete the
work, but the heft of the burden still rests upon the people of
these wards, because there is not means enough in the general
treasury to help as the presidency would like.
If this multitude of non-payers of tithing would only honor the law
of the Lord and live up to their privileges, I believe we would soon have
ample means to meet every necessity of the Church. If they would do
it! But will they or will they not? If they will not, of course the con-
sequences will rest with themselves. We are dealing with our faith and
conscience. You are dealing not with me, not with the presidency of
the Church, but with the Lord. I am not dealing with men respecting
my tithing, my dealings are with the Lord; that is, with reference to my
own conduct in the Church as a tithe-payer, and with reference to my
observance of other laws and rules of the Church. If I fail to observe
the laws of the Church, I am responsible to my God, and I will have to
answer te him, by and by, for my neglect of duty, and I will have to
answer to the Church for my fellowship. If I do my duty according to
my understanding of the requirements that the Lord has made of me,
then I ought to have a conscience void of offense; I ought to have satis-
faction in my soul, with a consciousness that I have simply done my duty
as I understood it, and I will risk the consequences. With me it is a
matter between me and the Lord ; so it is with every one of us.
Theory vs. Faith.
President Smith then referred to the officers of the auxiliary
organizations instituted for the benefit of the youth of Zion, and
stated that the officers of the Mutual Improvement associations,
EDITOR'S TABLE. 641
both men and women, are doing their duty as faithfully as they
know how. This could also be said of the board of directors of
the Sunday School Union, who are faithful in their duties, willing
to take their part and responsibilities, to go and come as they are
sent to minister to the youth of Zion. This may also be said of
the Primary associations and Religion classes, and one of the most
important auxiliaries of the Church, the Relief society, as well as
the officers and faculties of our Church schools. He prayed that
the Lord would bless them abundantly. They are all doing their
duty according to their best understanding and wisdom, and the
strength they possess. He believed that most of the Latter-day
Saints were sufficiently intelligent and wise to decide between
truth and error, right and wrong, light and darkness. He believed
that they had sense enough to abide by the simple, pure, truthful
principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, in preference to all the
vagaries of philosophers or scientists, or anybody else. No science
nor philosophy can supercede God Almighty's truth. "The Lord
has said, 'My word is truth,' and indeed it is; and I believe that
the Latter-day Saints know enough about the word of God to know
it is his word when they see it, and shun whatever is not; and that
they will abide by the word of God, for it is truth. As the Savior
said, 'If ye will abide in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.
You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free' .
free from sin, error, the darkness and traditions of men, vain phi-
losophy, untried and unproved theories of scientists that need
demonstration beyond the possibility of a doubt."
Science and philosophy through all the ages have undergone change
after change. Scarcely a century has passed but they have introduced new
theories of science and philosophy, that supercede the old traditions and
the old faith and the old doctrines entertained by philosophers and scien-
tists. These things may undergo continuous changes, but the word of
God is always true, is always right. The principles of the gospel are
always true, the principles of faith in God, repentance from sin, baptism
for the remission of sins by authority of God, and the laying on of hands
for the gift of the Holy Ghost — these principles are always true,
and are always absolutely necessary for the salvation of the children of
men, no matter who they are or where they are. No other name under
heaven is given but that of Jesus Christ, by which you can be saved or
exalted in the kingdom of God. Not only has God declared them, not
642 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
only has Christ declared these principles, by his voice to his disciples,
from generation to generation, in the old time, but in these latter-days
they have taken up the same testimony and declared these things to the
world. They are true today as they were true then, and we must obey
these things.
Must Obey the Rules of the Church on Marriage.
Another thing, we must obey the rules of the Church with refer-
ence to marriage, at least we ought to do so. We do not all do it. You
will see by what I have stated that during the last year eleven hundred
marriages of our people have been contracted or solemnized in a manner
not provided for in the law of the Church, I refer to civil marriages, so
that we do not all do our duty yet with reference to that. And another
thing, as we have announced in conferences — as it was announced by
President Woodruff, as it was announced by President Snow, and as it
was re-announced by me and my brethren, and confirmed by the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, plural marriages have ceased in
the Church. There is not a man today in this Church, or anywhere else
outside of it, who has authority to solemnize a plural marriage— not
one! There is no man nor woman in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints who is authorized to contract a plural marriage. It is not
permitted, and we have been endeavoring to the utmost of our ability to
prevent men from being led by some designing person into an unfor-
tunate condition that is forbidden by the conferences and by the voice of the
Church, a condition that has, to some extent at least, brought reproach upon
the people. I want to say that we have been doing all in our power to
prevent it or to stop it; in order that we might do this, we have been
seeking to our utmost to find the men who have been the agents and
the cause of leading people into it. We find it very difficult to trace
them up, but when we do find them, and can prove it upon them, we
will deal with them as we have dealt with others that we have been
able to find.
Constitutional Amendment Regulating Marriage.
Now, with reference to the threat that is made upon us, from
time to time, that in order to stop plural marriages among the Latter-
day Saints, it is recommended to amend the constitution of the United
States, giving to the parental government the exclusive right to deal
with polygamy and prevent it. So far as I am concerned, I am just as
ready, this moment, as any other man in the world to consent to
EDITOR'S TABLE. 643
Congress taking the measures necessary to bring about the amendment
of the Constitution, and pass laws to regulate plural marriages. We
want them, while they are at it, to regulate marriage and divorce as
well. We will turn it all over to them, and we are just as ready for it
today as any people on God's earth, no matter where you go. Now, in
reference to this, I want to make this distinction, for it is a distinction
with a difference, and that is this: I don't mean to interfere with men
who had their wives before the Manifesto was issued by President Wood-
ruff, men who entered into this covenant when it was the law of the
Church, or who took wives under the authority of the presiding officers
of the Church. We do not mean to interfere with them. To them I say,
take care of your wives. If you do not, you are not genuine men at
all. Take care of your families, take care of your children, educate
them, feed them, clothe them, house them, and do everything in your
power to make of them men and women who will be an honor to our
nation, and to our state, and to our Church. I mean future plural mar-
riages must stop; that is what I have reference to, the marrying of more
than one wife in the future in plural marriage. That is what we have
undertaken to stop, in conformity with the laws of the land; and we are
doing our best. Now let the United States authorize Congress to pass
an amendment to the constitution regulating marriage and divorce,
throughout all the nation. I think it will be a great blessing to our
country. When we read of the vast number of divorces, and of the
heartaches, and the sorrows that are occasioned by them, and by vanity,
profligacy, lust and corruption, throughout all the world, we feel as if it
would be a Godsend to the people to have some strong hand take hold of
the matter and regulate it, so that there will not be so much of this
evil as exists today.
Closing Testimony.
President Smith closed with the testimony that he loves the
gospel with all his heart, and knows that it is right. He
expressed himself as having a purpose to continue while he lives,
in the discharge of his duty to the best of his ability. "Whatever
that duty may be, I propose to do it as well as I can, and leave
the results in the hands of the Lord." He then pronounced a
blessing upon the presidents of the stakes of Zion, their counselors
and the high councilors; the bishops, who are the fathers of the
people, and their counselors, and prayed that the Lord would give
them wisdom, a fatherly spirit, and kindness to deal mercifully with
644 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
the erring, laboring diligently to reclaim them from the error of
their ways, and to keep those who are in the paths of righteous-
ness and truth steadfast and firm. He also asked the blessings of
the Lord upon the presidents of the missions, throughout the land.
"How we feel to appreciate them, and how satisfying is the feel-
ing that we have men presiding over the missions who are true to
their covenants, true to their people, and true to their mission —
faithful, bright, intelligent, and active in the performance of their
duties. And those who labor in the temples, the Lord bless them
and all Israel. I need not ask especially for blessings upon those
who do their duty, for I know that they will be blessed; but I do
pray that the Lord will bless those who are luke-warm, who are
indifferent and uninterested in the work of the Lord, that they
may awaken to their duty, and learn to earn the reward of the
faithful, that they may not be ignored when God shall choose his
own, and set the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his
left, and shall say to the latter, 'Depart from me' " (Matt.
25: 31-41).
Field Day.
All officers and members of the Y. M. M. I. A. should take
notice that one day during conference — either Friday or Saturday
— will be devoted to field sports and entertainment. The com-
mittee on athletics have arranged a "taking" program, and all
are invited to be present. The social committee, too, have some-
thing very good for the officers. Come and enjoy it. Further
particulars will be made known in the Deseret News.
Messages from the Missions.
Elder Charles Bergeson, president of the New South Wales Con-
ference, Australian Mission, gives the following interesting account of
affairs in his field of labor:
Ten years had barely elapsed from the time the Church was first
organized until the first Latter-day Saint missionary was set apart to
EDITOR'S TABLE. 645
labor in Australia. On Saturday, July 11, 1840, Apostle George A.
Smith ordained and set apart William Barratt, at Burslem, Staffordshire,
England, for a mission to South Australia.
Since that time, many have been assigned to labor in the Australian
Mission, and although missionary labor has not been continuous from the
time it was first inaugurated, yet a good work was accomplished in the
early fifties, and many Saints emigrated to Zion under extreme
difficulties.
Owing to the large territory embraced in the Australian Mission
as it was first established, it was deemed advisable to divide it up into
smaller fields. Consequently, in 1897, such divisions were made, under
the direction of the First Presidency, and what was once the Australian
Mission is now embraced in the Australian, New Zealand and Samoan
Missions.
As now constituted, the Australian Mission embraces all of Australia
and Tasmania, which is a territory of about the same area as the United
States of America. While there are not nearly so many inhabitants as
in the same extent of country in the United States, yet there are
over four and one-half millions of inhabitants, nearly all of whom are
white people, and easily reached by the elders, as the larger majority of
the inhabitants of Australia are residents of the cities particularly
located on the sea coasts. Sidney, located on the shores of one of the
best, if not the best, natural harbors in the world, boasts a population
of over half a million. Melbourne, too, with her broad streets which
give the appearance of an American city, claims a population of about
half a million. Other prominent cities, in each of which conference
headquarters have been established, are Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and
Hobart.
There are in all six conferences in the Australian Mission, i. e.,
New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, West Australia
and Tasmania, making one conference for each of the six states
which comprise the commonwealth of Australia. In each of these con-
ferences there are from one to three branches, which now hold regular
sessions of Sabbath school, and Mutual Improvement associations, in addi-
tion to other Sunday meetings.
There are now over six hundred persons who belong to the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Australian Mission, and the
work is gradually expanding and increasing. During the past year
fifty-nine persons were baptized and twenty-nine children were blessed,
while fifteen members were received from other branches. There are
forty-three persons in addition to the elders from Zion who hold some
646
IMPROVEMENT ERA.
degree of the priesthood, and one hundred and sixty-six who are tithe
payers.
"There are at present forty- four elders from Zion laboring in the field,
tracting from house to house, and holding street meetings in an effort to
reach the people; but, as in most of the fields, there is work for many
more missionaries than can be secured for the purpose. In the past
year 230,000 tracts, 567 standard works, and 10,171 other books were
distributed among the people, without mention being made of several
different periodicals of the Church which, with the Era and Deseret News,
are doing their share in the disseminating of gospel truths in this broad
land of sunshine and flowers.
ELDERS OF THE NEW SOUTH WALES CONFERENCE, AUSTRALIA.
Front row, left to right: Claud Sutton, Grantsville, Utah; John McClive,
Taylor, Arizona; Arthur S. Bingham, Ogden, Utah. Middle row:
Charles Bergeson, (Conference President) Lewiston, C. Alvin Orme,
(Mission President) Tooele, Charles B. Richmond, (Mission Clerk) Salt
Lake City, Utah; E. Rollin Hamblin, Lyman, Wyoming. Back row: John
Boden, Dayton, Idaho; Ernest E. Hansen, Brigham City, Raymond R.
Tonks, Horace Heiner, Morgan, Utah; Edwin M. Claridge, Thatcher,
Arizona.
EDITOR'S TABLE. 647
The people of Australia are generally broad-minded, to erant and
hospitable. The government is free, and the inhabitants are allowed
perfect religious freedom, the elders being accorded exceptionally good
police protection when holding their meetings, either upon the street
corner or in the halls. The past few seasons in this land have been
very fruitful, as there has been an abundance of rain and no long
periods of excessive heat, consequently this country is now enjoying
prosperity, and doing much to conserve the surplus waters, and other-
wise develop the natural resources, which in time will make Australia not
only well populated, but the people well supported.
The New South Wales Conference has its headquarters at Sidney,
where President C. A. Orme is also located with mission headquarters.
The first baptism in New South Wales occurred Wednesday, December 3,
1851, and the first branch was organized at Sidney, with twelve mem-
bers, on January 4, 1852. There are now branches located in Newton,
North Sidney and Bathhurst, where Sunday schools, sacrament and
evening services are held each Sabbath. There are one hundred and
eighty-four members in New South Wales, and the local brethren and
sisters are ably assisting the elders in carrying on the work.
Elder Archie 0. Gardner, who is leader of Company A. of the Mis-
souri Conference elders laboring in the extreme southeastern part of
Missouri, writes that they can
visit that district only during
the winter months, because of
the unhealthy condition of the
climate in the summer, caused
by the overflow of the Missis-
sippi river. There is consider-
able prejudice in that district
against the elders on account of the missionaries having been
driven out of the town of Caruthersville several years ago, but never-
theless the elders were enabled to leave thirteen Books of Mormon
and some small books, besides holding twenty-nine meetings and four
cottage meetings. A friend opened his home to them and it was filled
every night. Prejudice is now dying out. "We have in our company
the first native elder from Missouri since the Saints were driven west.
He is from Missouri, and shows the Missourians." The elders are, from
left to right: 0. L. Johnson, Shoshone, Idaho; F. A. Jack, Salt Lake
City, William Lee Huff, Moab, Utah; E. D. Roberts, Louisiana, Missouri;
and Archie 0. Gardner, Pine Valley, Utah.
648
IMPRO VEMENT ERA .
Elder, J. F. Kinghorn, laboring in Southern Illinois, writes the Era
that he and his companions find continued joy in their missionary labors
and that the people in that dis-
trict are becoming more desir-
ous of learning the true side of
"Mormonism." Many doors
are opened to them, and they
are kept busy in explaining
the gospel message. The elders
in the picture, from left to
right, are: A. F. Harding, Pres-
ton, Idaho; Adair Patterson,
Pine, Arizona; Robert L.Bills,
Elders W. H. Lawrence, of Erda,
and John C. Burrell, of Colonia Juarez,
Payson, Utah; and J. F. Kinghorne, Rigby, Idaho.
E. J. Curtis, of Moroni, Utah,
Mexico, standing at the back of
the other brethren in the picture,
are being blessed with excel-
lent results from their labors in
Chattanooga. In addition to the
weekly Sunday school and the
Sunday evening service, held at
the mission headquarters, there
are five cottage meetings a
week. During the last few
week these brethren have sold
nineteen Books of Mormon, two
hundred and eighty-three other
books, distributed twenty-three
hundred and forty-nine tracts,
and performed two baptisms.
About a month ago one of these
elders, in visiting a house, pre-
sented the Book of Mormon for
sale. The good housewife bought
it. She stated aftewards that
she purchased it thinking it would help the elders. The woman started to
read it, however, and she became interested in it. So did her husband,
with the result that they invited the elders to hold meetings at their
home, and they were both baptized in the Tennessee river, Sunday,
March 12.
EDITOR'S TABLE.
649
Elder Newel K. Leavitt, writ-
ing from Ada, Oklahoma Con-
ference, March 20, says that
the elders laboring in that con-
ference are blessed with a rich
portion of the Spirit of God, en-
abling them to help the work
prosper. Friends are being
made rapidly. The elders labor-
ing in the conference are, top
row: Jesse Allen, L. G. Tanner,
Prescott, J. Gyllenskog.
M. J. Richardson. Bottom row: E. J.
The elders shown in this cut are
laboring in and about St. Johns, Kansas,
and are known as Company B. They have
recently used the tabernacle phonograph
songs, and have in this way obtained
many listeners, to whom they later
explained the principles of the gospel.
"0 my Father" has made a deep impres-
sion on [the listeners. The elders are,
standing: C. C. Hintze, Holliday, Hor-
ace Holly, Slaterville, Utah; T. L. Richard-
son, Inkom, Idaho. Sitting: J. A. Vernon,
Rookport, Utah; T. D. Leavitt, Bunker-
ville, Nevada.
ELDERS OF THE BERGEN BRANCH, NORWAY.
Left to right: Peter H. Jensen, Christian M. Jenson, Erastus Johnson,
President Joseph A. Christensen, Secretary Leonard Larson, Walter E.
Fridal.
Priesthood Quorums' Table.
Forjthe Priesthood Generally: The following important re-
port, made by a sub-committee to the General Priesthood Outlines Com-
mittee of the Church, was read at the General Priesthood meeting of the
Church held at the annual conference, April 7, and unanimously adopted.
It thus becomes the working guide of all the Priesthood quorums of the
entire Church:
Brethren: — Your committee, appointed to make suggestions regard-
ing missionary work and methods of making the outlines more effective,
beg to report:
Recognizing the great advantage to the Church that has come through
the establishment, by the authorities, of the weekly priesthood meet-
ings, we deplore the custom that exists in some stakes, of adjourning
them for a long period during the summer. If the labors of the breth-
ren in the agricultural communities do not permit of a meeting on a
week night during their busy season, we feel that some time on Sunday
should be arranged for taking up the lessons, so that every week of the
year a meeting may be held for study and preparation for the duties of
the priesthood. Any break in the classes causes a loss of interest and
seriously detracts from the success of the outline work. The summer
time is particularly the season of pleasure-seeking; and the boys and
young men are naturally subjected to greater temptations. At no time is
it so necessary for them to have fresh in their memories the sacred call-
ing and authority given them of the Lord.
There is a tendency also to interrupt class work by calling other
meetings or transacting business on the night that is set apart for priest-
hood meeting. All such matters should be attended to some other
night.
As the studies are now taken up, each quorum or division of a
quorum must have an instructor to conduct the lessons. This instructor
may be one of the officers of the quorum, or some one else appointed
to that work. It is very difficult to secure men who do justice to this
calling, and many a young man, who could be held by well-presented les-
sons, loses interest and stays away because of haphazard methods and
lack of preparation. Too much emphasis, your committee believes, can-
PRIESTHOOD QUORUMS' TABLE. 651
not be placed on the necessity of having every instructor of the lesser or
higher priesthood go before his brethren prepared to feed them the words
of life. To secure this result, preparatory instructions of those who
are called to teach in the quorums is imperative. The stakes that are
obtaining the best results in the priesthood work, have adopted some
method of securing this preparation, the method differing in different
places. Some stake presidents have very successfully used their stake
priesthood meetings for such preparation, following a plan similar to
that of the stake Sunday School Union. Others have held a meeting
of the instructors at a different time, and still others are spending part
of their stake priesthood meeting in considering general stake matters
and the other part in pre-viewing the month's work among the instruct-
ors of the various quorums. Such a method as the last, if no better is
employed, it has appeared to us, could and should be adopted in all
the stakes. Greater brevity in the opening exercises would make this
easier. In some places an extraordinary amount of time is consumed in
roll call, minutes and other preliminaries. If for such purposes fifteen
minutes were placed as the limit, valuable time might be saved for work
in the instruction of class teachers. Such a method, too, would give the
stake presidency and clerk an opportunity of meeting the bishops and
ward clerks and taking up the problems that are of particular interest to
them alone. It happens not infrequently that several hundred men and
boys have to sit and hear some technical instructions given that are of
little if any interest to them.
As to direct missionary work with quorum members, your committee
recognizes that the Lord placed officers in each quorum and that it is
their special duty to look after the welfare of the members. We believe
that these officers should be primarily responsible for having every
slothful or absent quorum member visited, not occasionally only, but
repeatedly, until there is awakened a desire to fulfil the obligation accepted
when such member received ordination. We fear that too much deli-
cacy is felt by quorum officers that deters them from doing earnest
work with derelict members. What seems to be needed in the quorums
at home is more of the true missionary spirit that actuates those who
enter zealously into the work of preaching the gospel abroad — a spirit
that makes them fearless in the advocacy of right, and that fills them
with the love of souls. Every officer should be a quorum missionary in
all that the word has come to mean in this Church — a seeker after those
who are not in the right path, a pastor to his flock. The absence of quorum
members from meetings should be quickly noticed and inquired into.and the
cause of such absence learned. If it is found to be sickness, a call
652 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
from quorum officers will be welcomed. If lack of interest is the reason,
how could a better influence be brought to bear than by a call from the
brethren who preside in the quorum of the careless one? If the absence
is found to be legitimate, the call or inquiry will still have a good effect
on the member, who will be made to feel, in any event, that he is
thought worthy of being looked after.
We therefore recommend that in all quorums where such work is
not now being done, there be established a systematic visiting of mem-
bers who are not regularly in attendance at the Monday night meetings;
that reports of such visits be made to the quorums, so that all members
shall be advised of the reasons assigned for absence, and that in this
missionary work the quorum officers lead out, calling to their assistance
such help as is needed, but not shirking the responsibility placed upon
them by their calling.
Not only should visits be made to members of quorums, but also to
those who should be members. The following startling figures show the
number of pers:ns holding the priesthood who are not enrolled in any reg-
ularly organized quorum. The report is more or less incomplete. A
number of stakes having made no report whatever, and only about half
the stakes have given a report of the Melchizedek priesthood: High
priests, 444; seventies, 632; elders, 3,200; priests, 926; teachers, 1,387;
deacons, 3,679; total, 10,268.
The division of the High Council into committees to oversee the
work of the different quorums is a necessity, if the best results are
obtained. These men, who are frequently not trained teachers, need not
necessarily be burdened with the work of teaching the class instructors.
Others may be found who can do this work more skilfully, but general
supervision by a committee of High Councilors and their direct responsibil-
ity for the progress of that order of the priesthood cannot fail to spur on
the slothful and encourage the earnest.
The cultivation of a spirit of fraternity has been neglected in most
qnorums, and yet it is a strong, beneficial influence. The Lord knew the
tendency of boys to group themselves into little bands of about a dozen
— a rusty dozen it might be— and he fixed that number for the mem-
bership of the deacons' quorum. As the boys grow into youth they
appreciate the association of a larger number. These natural groupings
are doubtless meant to bring into close association and companionship the
members of the quorums. The spirit of the priesthood, and the fact
of this division into compact bodies, would indicate that the members of
the quorum should be more to one another than if they were not united
by this tie. As an illustration of the good results of feeling this respon-
PRIESTHOOD QUORUMS' TABLE. 653
sibility for the welfare of one another, let us cite the case of the quorum
of elders in a nearby stake. One of their number is on a mission. His
mission president sent word that unless means were furnished him he would
have to go home. The quorum took the matter up, and within a few
minutes from the time the news was given to them, provision had been
made for a month's allowance for their absent brother, and later
arrangements were made by which he should be kept in the field, through
their help, until his mission was completed.
The committee is seriously considering, but are not yet ready to
report, a plan to offer the priesthood of the Church such life insurance
as will take away all inducement for our young men to join fraternal
societies for the sake of securing the protection these societies offer.
This year should be more than ever before a year of application. It
has been the purpose of the committees, in preparing the outlines, to
make the work practical. Every lesson, if it is successful, must arouse
determination to do the works of the priesthood and the gospel. During
this year, when no new outlines have been given, it is hoped the
instructors and presiding officers will make practical lessons for the
members. We feel that while it is important for them to have the
priesthood come to their classes prepared to recite on the lessons assigned,
it is far more important for them to send the priesthood away from
their classes prepared for the duties of the week.
Besides the strictly official duties, the presiding officers of the
quorum should provide for the members' work which is in harmony with
thjir calling. During the summer, particularly, under the excellent
juvenile laws of the cities and the state, somebody should be working
to keep the children from being on the streets at night, and from other
evils. The juvenile courts are calling for earnest men to help save the
boys and girls. That work is properly the duty of the priesthood. At
the present time, there is a splendid opportunity and duty to carry out
the resolution adopted at the general conference of the Church some
time ago, pledging our efforts towards closing the saloons. On the 27th
of June, the anniversary of the martyrdom of the Prophet and Patriarch,
the citizens of every city and town of Utah must vote as to whether
they wish the saloon to continue its soul-destroying business. It seems
to the committee that a rare opportunity is here given for the priest-
hood of the Lord to combat one of the most powerful means that
Satan has ever been able to employ against the souls of the children of men.
Duty of Presidents towards Unrecorded Seventies. — At a
general priesthood meeting held in the Salt Lake tabernacle on April 7,
statistics were read that had been compiled in the office of the Presid-
654 IMPRO VEMENT ERA .
ing Bishopric, showing the number of individuals in the Church holding
the priesthood, who are not enrolled in any quorum. The total number
is about ten thousand. Of the number thus reported 632 are seventies.
This should cause very much anxiety in the minds of presiding seven-
ties, and an earnest effort should be made to search out the careless
ones and have them properly received into the quorums. The First
Council of Seventy desire to call the attention of all presidents to the
fact that ten men on an average in every stake, holding the office of a
Seventy, are not in fellowship with the quorums as fully as they should
be. The presidents are urged to canvass their respective quorum dis-
tricts, and bring into the quorums all who properly belong.
Presidents of seventy are to remember that they are reponsible for
all seventies who reside within their quorum district. If seventies
come into any quorum district, and are too careless to seek recognition
from the quorum, to which they should belong, or who desire to ignore
the quorum, and so do not give their allegiance to it, they are neverthe-
less subject to the quorum presidency where they reside, and can be
handled for neglect of duty, if they persist in refusing to fellowship
with their brethren.
The First Presidency, under date of April 13, 1883, issued an im-
portant letter of instruction to the First Council in which occurs the
following paragraph:
' 'The presidents of the quorums residing in the district where their
respective quorums are organized shall have a general supervision of all
the seventies residing in their district."
All who have been honored with the priesthood mnst be willing to
recognize proper authority or jeopardize their standing in the Church.
Presidents of seventy throughout the Church are directed to take the
necessary steps to bring in all who are now reported as unrecorded.
There should be no delay in this matter; let every man be sought out,
and have his name recorded in the quorum to which he should give his
allegiance.
Erratum in Current Year Book. In Lesson 18, in the Analy-
sis, sub-division I, for "Scope of the Atonement Broader than Individual
Sins," read: "Scope of the Atonement Broader than Adam's Sin.''
Presidents and class teachers should call the attention of the students
to this correction, that each one may correct the error in his Year Book;
though in the text of the "Discussion'' (see subdivision 1) it is quite
clear that the intent of the title in the Analysis is to say, "Broader than
the scope of Adam's Sin," without the correction here suggested, some
confusion of thought might arise.
Mutual Work.
Annual Y. M., Y. L. M. I. A. and Primary Association
Conference.
The Sixteenth Annual Conference of the Young Men's and Young
Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations, and the Conference of the
Primary Associations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
will be held in Salt Lake City, on Saturday and Sunday, June 3rd and
4th, 1911.
All members are invited and officers are particularly requested to be
present at all of the meetings of the conference, and a cordial invitation
is extended to the Saints generally to attend the meetings to be held in
the Tabernacle at 2 and 7 p. m., on Sunday, June 4th.
Joseph F. Smith, Martha H. Tingey,
Heber J. Grant, Ruth M. Fox,
B. H. Roberts, Mae T. Nystrom,
General Supt'cy Y. M. M. I. A. Presidency Y. L. M. I. A.
Louie B. Felt,
May Anderson,
Clara W. Beebe,
a Presidency Primary Associations.
Annual M. I. A. Musical Contest.
The third annual musical contest of the Y. M. and Y. L. M. I.
A. of the Granite stake was held in the stake house, March 30 to April
1, 1911. As an evidence of the interest taken in the contest, which
included many excellent musical numbers, the entries of this season
more than trebled that of any previous season. There were forty-five
entries, including choirs and individual singers, and about three hundred
contestants. The contest was pronounced a complete success, and was
well attended from all parts of the stake during the whole time. J. E.
Pixton of the General Board of the stake had charge of the affair, and
the committee consisted of J. S. Cornwall, Lisle Bradford, Margaret
Summerhays and Catherine Gabbott. Several hundred dollars in prizes
were distributed.
Passing Events.
The plague in India, according to official figures for February,
shows 88,498 deaths in a single month. The most persistent attempts
to check the epidemic have failed, according to the reports to the British-
India office.
The German census, taken last December, shows the population
of the Fatherland to be 64,903,423, an increase of over four and a
quarter millions since 1905. The figures show that there are 850,000
more females than males.
Henry Beck Evans, a member of Zion's Camp in 1834, a Utah
pioneer of 1850, a territorial militiaman and Indian missionary, born
Ohio, October 25, 1830, son of the late Bishop David Evans and Mary
Beck Evans of Lehi, died in Coalville, April, 1911. His funeral was held
from the stake tabernacle, April 5.
Postal savings banks in Utah are found in Provo and Bingham
Canyon, and a new order makes Logan the third city in the state desig-
nated for a bank of this kind. The postoffice department at Washing-
ton has decided to have a bank in each second class city of the country,
the postal bank idea having passed beyond the experimental stage,
and been pronounced a success wherever tried.
New district judges and attorneys have been named by Governor
William Spry in conformity with legislative action adding one more
judge each to the 2nd and 3rd districts, as follows : for 3rd judicial
district, Frederick C. Loofbourow, judge; E. O. Leatherwood, attorney;
for 2nd district, Nathan J. Harris, Ogden, judge; E. T. Hulaniski,
attorney. The appointees are all well known members of the Utah bar,
and give universal satisfaction.
A terrible fire in a ten-story factory building in New York City,
occupied by a shirt-waist factory, destroyed the lives of about one hun-
PASSING EVENTS. 657
dred and forty persons, within one hour after the fire was discovered,
on the afternoon of March 25. Most of the people destroyed were girls.
There was only one fire escape at the place, which was of little use,
and the elevator escape was soon cut off.
The national income tax amendment to the national constitu-
tion, submitted by resolution of Congress in July, 1909, has been acted
on favorably this year by nineteen legislatures, eleven states have thus
far rejected it. Since the amendment must be approved by three-fourths
of the states, nine more states are necessary for favorable action. Since
the constitution fixes no time limit to legislative action, the legislatures
which rejected it this year may approve it next. Utah so far has not
joined in favor of the proposed measure.
"The United Order," by Joshua H Midgley, is a pamphlet of
seventy-five pages, treating on the United Order and giving outlines of
its practical accomplishment. It is a plan, according to the author,
that will "enable workers to take more than they put in, and to have a
government of, for and by themselves." The author says, "The work
relates to the unification of mankind through the abolishment of rank
injustice, and enforced inequality, and this by a peaceful, natural and
practical means."
The special session of the Sixty-Second Congress convened
April 4. On the 5th President Taft sent his message to Congress, which
treats entirely and exclusively with the proposed reciprocity agreement
with Canada. He urges its early adoption, saying, "I am constrained in
deference to popular sentiment and with a realizing sense of my duty to
the great mass of our people, whose welfare is involved, to urge on your
consideration early action on this agreement." Champ Clark was chosen
speaker of the House of Representatives. The bill passed the house
April 21, by a vote of 264 to 88.
An aviation meet was held at Bonneville field, near Saltair, from
April 6 to 11, which attracted at least eighty thousand visitors, many of
whom saw bird-men and flying machines for the first time. When the
weather was favorable, the exhibitions were all that could be expected.
Walter Brookins and Philo Parmalee, Wright aeroplane drivers, and
Eugene B. Ely and Charles F. Willard with the Curtis type of byplanes,
all of international fame, took part. An incident that should not go
unnoticed is that the Wright people, as usual, refused to fly on Sunday.
The thanks of the community are due them for this commendable
example.
658 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
The situation in Mexico with the "Mormon" colonies continues
serious. Casas Grandes was abandoned by the Federals early in April,
and this left the surrounding country without civil or military law,
which enabled robbers, roving bands and outlaws to make raids upon the
unprotected. On the 11th, Juan Sosa, a "bad" Mexican, was killed in
Col. Juarez, and Frank Lewis, a "Mormon" colonist, was wounded.
The colonists have been absolutely neutral, but were armed and prepared
to defend themselves against marauders, in the absence of both beliger-
ent factions. At an Insurrecto court martial the colonists were exoner-
ated from responsibility for the death of the "bad" man.
Bishop Joseph Warburton, for over forty years bishop of the
First ward of Salt Lake City, died on March 18, 1911. He was born in
Radcliff, England, September 31, 1831, baptized a member of the
Church in 1851 . He left England in 1856 with his wife, and worked in
Massachusetts until 1860, coming to Utah by ox teams, landing in Salt
Lake on the 2nd of October, 1861. He was ordained bishop of the First
ward in 1870, filling the position until a year ago, when he was released
and ordained a patriarch. For several years he was a captain in the
militia under General William S. Burton. He engaged also in the mer-
cantile business for many years.
The Annual Sunday School Union Conference was held in
the Salt Lake Tabernacle, Sunday evening, April 9. A feature of the
exercises was the reciting of the Articles of Faith in the language of
fourteen nations to which the gospel has been preached, including French,
Danish, Tahitian, Hawaiian, Welsh, Norwegian, Japanese, Maori, Turkish,
Dutch, Spanish, Swedish and German, with the whole congregation
repeating the articles in the English language. From the report of
Secretary George D. Pyper it appears that the parents' department of the
Sunday schools now numbers nearly 23,000, and that the Sunday schools
have increased their membership in the past ten years nearly 52,000,
reaching at present 175,425. President Joseph F. Smith spoke on the
need of teaching the gospel to the children in simplicity.
The great Roosevelt dam, on the Salt River, Arizona, was
officially opened on March 18, at 5:48 p. m., by ex-President Theodore
Roosevelt. Standing on top of the dam, he pressed an electric button
which set in motion a mass of grinding machinery, which in turn raised
three of the six-thousand-pound iron gates. Through these came rush-
ing torrents of water, running madly down towards the valley, sixty
miles onward, where it would be diverged within sixteen miles of Mesa
and Phoenix, at the great diversion dam, to assist in irrigating about two
PASSING EVENTS. 659
hundred and fifty thousand acres of desert land, which has lain for ages
without water, and is as level as a floor. The dam is the greatest in
America, and next to the Assuan dam on the Nile, the greatest in the
world. It forms a reservoir twenty-five miles long and two hundred feet
deep.
President Diaz's cabinet resigned on the 24th of March. The
retiring ministers are advanced in years, the youngest baing sixty-five,
and several much older, on which account there had been much dissatis-
faction. Mostly new, young men have been selected, but Jose Y Ives
Limantour remains Minister of Finance, with Manuel Gonzale Cosio,
Minister of War and Marine. Enrique Creel is succeeded by Francisco
Leon de la Barra as Minister of Foreign Affairs. The situation in the
country remains very critical, with no apparent improvement over last
month, as far as a settlement of the insurrection is concerned. In a fight
at Agua Preita, near Douglas, Arizona, on the 14th of April, United
States troops interfered, after the Mexican rebels had swept the town
with a volley, killing several, and wounding some Americans. All day
long April 17, a great battle again raged. At Juarez on the 20th, the
Insurrectos threatened an attack.
The Pacific Land and Produce Exhibition was held from
March 18 to April 2, at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California.
On Utah day, March 27, a special program was carried out in honor of
the Utah delegation, which consisted of prominent citizens, including
Governor and Mrs. William Spry, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Pratt, Dr. and
Mrs. P. F. Pfoutz, Captain and Mrs. J. E. Caine, and D. C. Jackling.
Every effort was made to convince the public of the fertility of Utah's
soil, and of the industry of her people. Trophies and cups won by the
state in many previous exhibitions gave proof of Utah's prominence.
"Utah's exhibit far surpassed that of any other state," says Gerald
Anderson. The Commercial Club and the officials of the Salt Lake route
deserve great credit for the splendid exhibit. Particularly did the fine
specimens of dry land grains shown draw crowds of admirers. Mr. L.
A. Merrill, of the Agricultural College, explained the merits of the
exhibition to all interested.
James Jack, one of the old workers in the President's office, died
of diabetes on the evening of March 27, 1911. He was born in Perth,
Scotland, November 29, 1829, and emigrated to America in 1853, cross-
ing the plains with ox teams. An expert accountant, he was for many
years chief clerk and treasurer to the First Presidency of the Church,
660 IMPRO VEMENT ERA .
working under Presidents Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Wood-
ruff, Lorenzo Snow, and Joseph F. Smith. In January, 1909, owing to
ill health, he retired, having since that time lived a quiet life. Inter-
ested in many activities outside of the Church, he had been vice-president
of the Saltair Railroad, treasurer of the Utah Central Railroad, treasurer
of Salt Lake City for twenty years, also treasurer of the Salt Lake
Theatre and the Deseret News Company, and was one of the original
incorporators of the Utah Sugar Company. One of his notable achieve-
ments in early days was the driving of an ox team with three thousand
pounds of flour and bacon for the relief of the hand-cart company
of 1856.
Governor Ford's last daughter was laid to rest without eulogy
or prayer on March 20, 1910. A short time ago the Era printed an
article showing the fate of the Ford boys. We now give this sad account
of his last daughter from a dispatch printed in the Los Angeles Times,
March 21, 1910:
Peoria, (III.) March 20, 1910. — [Exclusive dispatchj. With but
four mourners, the body of Mrs. Anna Davis, last daughter of the late
Governor Thomas Ford, was interred beside her mother, father and
sister, as darkness settled over Springdale cemetery this evening. No
word of eulogy was spoken, no minister read a prayer.
After three years in the Deaconess Hospital, at Lincoln, 111., during
which she had been the subject of Logan county hospitality, Mrs. Davis
died Thursday night, aged seventy-two, penniless, and with but one liv-
ing relative, a daughter, Mrs. Watson of Okaloosa, Iowa, who, with
scant funds, brought her mother's body here for burial.
Ford, one of Illinois' s greatest governors, and publisher of a his-
tory of Illinois, like his daughter and oth3r members of his family, died
penniless in 1850. He raised Illinois from bankruptcy, and paid its three
million dollar debt. »
New wards and changes for the month of March, 1911, as
reported by the Presiding Bishops' office: W. Woodruff Clark was sus-
tained as presiding elder of Cokeville ward, Bear Lake stake, to succeed
Silas Wright; James E. Garn, sustained as bishop of Cedar Valley ward,
Alpine stake, to succeed William Cook; Reginald Evans, sustained as
presiding elder of Kemmerer ward, Woodruff stake, to succeed Charles
L. Wright; James C. Anderson, appointed stake clerk of Fremont stake,
to succeed William E. Gee; Erastus Walker, sustained as bishop of
Bybee ward, Rigby stake, to succeed Joseph W. Jones; Willis E. Robi-
son, appointed stake clerk of Millard stake, to succeed William A. Reeve;
John J. Shumway, appointed stake clerk of Bear River stake, to succeed
James R. Kennard;] Almy ward, Woodruff stake, reorganized, James
PASSING EVENTS.
Blight bishop; Joseph H. Welling, sustained as bishop of Riverside ward,
Bear River stake, to succeed M. J. Richards; Edward Sawley, sustained
as bishop of Grass Creek ward, Summit stake, to succeed John B.
Pendleton.
The ancient ruins of Guatemala are being investigated. A tele-
gram to one of the papers in Greeley, Colorado, dated March 26, 1911,
says-
Advices from the exploration party in Guatemala, Central America,
under the supervision of Dr. Edgar L. Hewitt, of the American Arch-
eological society, who is conducting a thorough research of the prehis-
toric ruins of temples, etc., in Central America, is that the party is hard
at work felling the immense trees of the tropical forest, many of which
measure twenty-three feet in diameter for a distance of twenty feet
upward from the base. These trees and an almost impenetrable growth
of vines and shrubs grow from the sides and the tops of ancient ruins,
giving some idea of the age of the buildings.
The party intended to conduct its researches also in Honduras, but
the government would not allow it on account of the rebellion there.
Hundreds of photographs of the monuments,obelisks and pillars have been
taken by Prof. Jesse Nusbaum of this city, who is with the party, and a
careful record of each find is being kept by Prof. Hewitt, who is making
satisfactory progress in opening up these ancient treasure houses of the
p&st. Besides the rare ivory, stones, utensils, jewels, etc., he expects to
find in the drier territory manuscripts revealing the life of the cultured
race living there thousands of years ago. At the ruins of Quirigua there
have been found sculpture as beautiful as any that Egypt or Assyria
ever boasted, and hieroglyphics even more interesting which no man
has yet been^able totranslate.
Joseph Leland Heywood, son of Benjamin Heywood and Hanna
Rawson, died October 16, 1910, at Panguitch, Utah. He was born in
Grafton, Worcester county, Massachusetts, August 1, 1815. He visited
the Prophet Joseph in December, 1842, and was baptized by Elder Orson
Hyde, in the Mississippi river, the Prophet Joseph assisting in cutting the
ice. He was confirmed under the hands of Orson Hyde, Joseph Smith
and Jedediah M. Grant. He was one of the trustees for the disposal of
Church property at Nauvoo. He left that city in the spring of '48
for Winter Quarters, and arrived in Great Salt Lake valley on the 19th
of October, 1848. He was appointed by the government as postmaster
of Salt Lake City, in 1849. He visited Washington and asssisted Delegate
John M. Bernhisel in securing territorial government for Utah. In the
winter of 1855-6, he aided in obtaining the re-appointment for governor
of Brigham Young. He was the first bishop of the 17th ward, Salt Lake
City, being appointed to that position in February, 1849. He was the
founder of Nephi, Juab county, assisting Jesse W. Fox in laying out the
662 IMPROVEMENT ERA.
city,and presided there for three years, beginning in 1851. In 1855,he,with
a company of elders, formed a settlement in Carson valley, Nevada,
where he acted as guard for the Hon. George P. Styles, who held a
session of the district court in Carson valley. He went to Washing-
ton, in 1856, to arrange his business with the government as the United
States Marshal for Utah, which office he then held, and to which he was
appointed by President Millard Fillmore, in 1851, and re-
appointed by President Franklin Pierce, in 1855. On his return jour-
ney he was winter-bound at Devil's Gate, on the Sweetwater, living with
a number of others for about six weeks mostly on cooked rawhide. They
arrived in Salt Lake City in time for the general conference, in April,
1857. In the spring of 1863, Elder Heywood moved to New Harmony,
Washington county, where he resided until February, 1872, when he
removed to Panguitch. At St. George, on February 3, 1874, he was
ordained a patriarch by President Brigham Young, and was appointed to
preside over the high priests' quorum of the Panguitch stake of Zion in
April, 1877, which position he held until September, 1898. He was a
remarkable character, and remained true to his faith and the Church
until the day of his death.
New York: "There she lies, the great Melting Pot — listen! Can't
you hear the roaring and the bubbling? There gapes her mouth — the harbor
where a thousand mammoth feeders come from the ends of the world to
pour in their human freight. Ah, what a stirring and a seething! Celt
and Latin, Slav and Teuton, Greek and Syrian, black and yellow, Jew
and Gentile, East and West, and North and South, the palm and the pine,
the pole and the equator, the cresent and the cross — how the great
Alchemist melts and fuses them with his purging flame! Here shall they
all unite to build the Republic of Man and the Kingdom of God. Ah,
Vera, what is the glory of Rome and Jerusalem, where all nations and
races come to worship and look back, compared with the glory of Amer-
ica, where all races and nations come to labor and look forward!"
— Zangwill, The Melting Pot.
"Be such a man, live such a life, that if every man were a man like
you, and every life a life like yours, this earth would be God's para=
dise."— Phillips Brooks.
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